1/44

Supermalleability From the Jetsons to the Flinstones and back.

Introduction;

The last decades the economic boom in China has

been accompanied by a migration from the Chinese

rural outskirts into its main metropolitan areas. This

demographic shift triggered an alleged demand boost

in the housing market and sparked an enormous

production of residential high-rise projects in the

outer boroughs of up- and coming urban hubs, like

Ordos. These new high-rise projects are often

presented as the ‘state of the art’ residences for a

metropolitan lifestyle, a social coherent way of living in

a neighborhood with the most advanced collective

facilities. The sustainable Chinese dream of national

importance. The apartments are often sold out before

even one construction worker has sets foot on site

and therefor claim to be an instant success as the best

residence for a futuristic lifestyle.

Case CH;

Unfortunately reality is unruly. Despite of all the sold

apartments, it is vacancy that is becoming more and

more apparent. These empty housing blocks are

obviously not answering an alleged demand for

apartments nearby big metropolitan hubs. Even though

the urbanization is apparent, it is not these people who

jumped at the opportunity to buy a house in a high-rise

block. The units are often already sold to local

investors who tend to rent out the place to the

newcomers. These investors do not intend to live in

these areas; they just try to make a buck out of the

demographic chances in their cities. This speculation

tends to increase the rental price, which often

transcends the affordable budget for many newcomers. On top of that, there is a tendency for locals to lend-

or lend-out money to invest in the construction of

these Chinese dream projects. In the case of

Kangbashi, near Ordos in Inner-Mongolia, this

decreased the last financial strong target group even

more. The result is a lack of inhabitants in Kangbashi,

and when this became clear buyers started to have

doubts.

One would expect an immediate correction in the

rental market, but this decrease in the rental prices

would not sustain the profit needed for a successful

investment. Therefore cutbacks had to be made during

the construction of these projects. Despite the high

rental prices these projects are being stripped and

tend not to deliver the Chinese dream that was once

envisioned. The high-rise projects are now causing a

mismatch between empty homes and a group of

migrants who are looking for a home and a stable

position within society. In the case of Kangbashi,

construction was even stopped midway, positioning a

$79 million museum in the middle of a vacant concrete

‘Stonehenge’.

Case NL;

This combination of high rental prices, migration,

vacancy and utopian high-rise isn’t new to the Dutch.

In the late 60’s Amsterdam was expanding its

boundaries just like Ordos. Amsterdam’s outstanding

reputation for planning, urban design and architecture

stimulated the city to launch an extremely ambitious

utopian housing dream. They promised a high-rise

concept equipped with parking docks that were lifted

from ground level and, like in Hanna-Barbera’s Jetsons,

accessible by cars on tracks through mid air. Little

train lorries would pick up luggage from these docks

and drive it, through a system of sky bridges, to the

elevator nearby your apartment1. Even the milkman

would have such a vehicle in order to deliver groceries

in the most comfortable way possible2.

The concept was far ahead of its time and appeared as

a white and shiny ‘i-flat’ high-rise in the midst of a quiet

and green oasis. Cars where not allowed on ground

level as this collective green landscape was near secret

and purely meant for the leisure of modern man3! This

collective dream was meant to strengthen the social

cohesion in Dutch society and appeared to work quite

well for a while.

The underestimation of budget, demands of concrete

apartments and spare time in daily life, proved to be

deadly for this utopian dream. Despite high rent prices

the ‘promise’ could not be kept for all of the buildings

in the area. Construction of public transport and shopping centers were even put on hold and the area

became isolated from its source city. The inhabitants

started to doubt the quality of life and it didn’t take

long before they decided to leave. The threat of a

lacking clientele triggered radical cutbacks in the

construction and architectural design for the rest of

the high-rise buildings. Instead of the 60’s ’Jetson’ way

of living the ‘Bijlmermeer’ projects ended up like the

scenery of the Flintstones; primitive high-rises, striped

of all possible luxuries. Despite the large apartments it

all resulted in a huge amount of vacancy and high rental

prices. The dream seemed too vulnerable and not

many years later ready to be demolished. The overall

1 Some parking garages still show sockets where once the intercom

should have been. 2 Architecture in LIMBO; by Wouter Oostendorp en Jouke Sieswerda

http://www.lulu.com/shop/jouke-sieswerda-and-wouter-

oostendorp/architecture-in-limbo/ebook/product-17478297.html

3 Traces of Marxism as ground level had to accessible for everybody

and owned by non. The green landscape was a collective good and

meant for the seas of spare time, which would be generated through

the automation of society at large.

2/44

Dutch conclusion was that the social cohesion isn’t as

malleable as they had thought in the beginning and that

the collective dream was a utopian farce.

Cool down with a hung of ‘Supermalleability’

The demolition plans for the Bijlmermeer encountered

quite a lot of resistance. During the last couple of

decades migrants have settled in the leftovers of the

utopian ‘plan’ and they stated that planners made the

same mistakes as they did with the original Bijlmer

design plan. By creating ‘tabula rasa’ through

demolition, planners and designers tried to impose a

new social coherent city plan. They pointed out that

the social cohesion they built up might not be resilient

enough to cope with the purifying wrecking balls.

Some inhabitants argue that a coherent society is not

malleable by imposing terraced houses with gardens.

They believe that everybody needs to make society

everyday! This way society is ‘Supermalleable’!

They might have a point there. It seems logical that

planners and designers cannot dictate a limited amount

of building typologies, which were successful in

prosperous times, when one deals with such grand diversity of cultures, mentalities and lifestyles. A

resilient future of a residential area, with migrants, will

probably prosper through re-designation with a

stronger involvement of the inhabitants, both as

residents and as investing participants. With this type

of participation many would have liked to try and

recharge the Bijlmermeer area before it was

demolished. It would sustain diversity of culture, social

cohesion and housing typologies in an area that,

despite its setbacks, is truly loved by its current

inhabitants. It is due to this present group of

Diasporas4 that the area is starting to act as an

international economic launch platform for Dutch

society.

Public Private Partnership

The question rises if the high-rise areas in China are

doomed with the same demolition faith or if the

market is able to recharge these areas with urban and

social cohesion?

Of course the Chinese conditions are different from

the Dutch. For example, the Chinese don’t deal with

an international migration stream but a national one.

This stream is accompanied with a big diversity in

national Diasporas, all with their own dialect and

lifestyle. Another difference is that the ‘Bijlmermeer’

was dealing with a financially weaker target group in

the end and that the Chinese are dealing with a

financially strong group of private investors. This group

4 Interpreting modernism; Wouter Oostendorp & Jouke Sieswerda;

how amsterdam housing development changes when Surinam gain

independance. In ‘Journeys’ by; Canadees Centrum voor Architectuur

(CCA)

http://issuu.com/actar/docs/journeys

has positioned itself between the developers and the

tenant target group and seems to clog the market5.

One of the biggest differences is the fact that the

Chinese migration is not one-sided. In bad times,

Chinese people retreat back into the safe heaven of

their family in the rural outskirts, sometimes even

exchanging their urban position with other relatives.

This bond with the ‘back-land’ is very strong,

resourceful and best seen during Chinese New Year,

when a huge stream of travelers heads back home in

February.

The private investors could use this to their advantage

and form an ‘alliance’ with these Diaspora-families. The

private investors could foresee themselves with a

stable group of tenants giving the tenants the

advantage of access to a familiar and secure residence.

This means that the tenant is able to track the

maintenance and the rental price of the property. In

this case both parties need to take less risk en share

more security in daily life.

In some cases housing prices have been reduced

drastically. Prices in Kangbashi have dropped about

60% due to vacancy. From 1.100 dollar per m2 in 2006 to 470 dollar per m2 in 20116. It seems to become

feasible that the Diaspora-families are going to be able

to chip-in. Buying a share of their apartment makes the

tenants a partner in a possible renovation or project

assembly, but only if the recent increase in mortgage

interest is turned down again for these types of

‘alliances’. Through these kind of public-private

partnerships the Chinese government is able to cool

down the housing market against speculators and

stimulate the residential re-designation at the same

time.

In other words; the apartments will become a sort of

‘Do It Yourself’ projects. The alliances can construct

and maintain their own neighborhood based on a

collective interest in their everyday lives. In this sense

society is becoming ‘Supermalleable’ again!

CPO

The DIY concept is becoming more popular in the

Netherlands. In some cases it is even organized in a

collective partnership, a so-called CPO (Collectieve

Particulier Opdrachtgeverschap) or Collective Private

Commissioning. One nice example is the CPO project

in Arnhem’s new fashion district7. The new inhabitants

have organized themselves in a building commission

that coaches the households in the assembly of their

new homes. The households have to monitor

construction within their budget and also attune their

plans to those of their neighbors. This gives

households a very good insight on the feasibility of

5 Assuming that the migration, from rural outskirt to city, could act as

a remedy against the vacancy. 6 http://www.businessinsider.com/home-prices-ordos-2011-12

7 www.sintmartenshof.wordpress.com.

3/44

their project and teaches them to relate their lifestyle

to the collective of the neighborhood. The point being

that households have recharged the area as they have

learnt to build and maintain their own environment.

The new residential area will enjoy a strong social

cohesion from the very beginning, making it far more

resilient and less vulnerable to decay.

Design chances in China

The Chinese government is trying to discourage

private speculators by raising the interests on

mortgages. Despite this effort to cool down the

market, Barclays is predicting a different tendency.

They stated that the investment in real estate will still

rise in popularity because:

Incomes will continue to grow;

Urbanization, home upgrading and

demographic change are in favor of current

boom;

There are limited amounts of investment

alternatives;

The strong balance sheets of households. It seems that the attempts to handicap the private

speculator is in vain and not at the center of the

problem. The mismatch lays within the let ability of the

apartments and between the potential tenant group

and the group of private investors. Instead of

eliminating the private investors, they should be

involved in the re-designation of the housing projects.

The core of this idea would be to sustain the ‘alliance’

legally and lower the interest in order for them to

participate in the re-designation of the malleable

housing projects.

This doesn’t automatically mean that a high-rise is an

easy building typology for the ‘malleable’ concept. The

lessons of the Bijlmermeer already show that the lack

of a normal street doesn’t enhance the sense of

community. After all, whoever lives above or below is

far less noticeable that than those on the same floor.

High-rises create different opportunities. The building

itself is a collective resource and generates a strong

common ground, an important feature when one has

to deal with 100 developers instead of just 1.

Architects should be aware of this opportunity and its

complexity. They should be the spatial mediator and

coach for all participants. Beside that role the

architects have exquisite knowledge about managing

spatial interests of the parties involved. They know

how to design structures that give way to

corresponding needs and level those out with specific

demands. In the end the architect also has the

expertise to assemble a good spatial vision about the

general facilities like: public space, collective landscape

and overall design features. But at the very core of the

architects task should be the skill of spatial mediation.

He should sustain the general spatial relationships in

the usage of the collective building. In that sense he is

designing an organization and shaping a built

environment at the same time.

At large it is the architect that should help to brake

down big urban problems into feasible bits that

inhabitants can understand and process. This way the

financial risk will be dispersed over the participating

alliances, making a big problem smaller by

decentralizing withinin the market. This cooperative

concept helps to unravel the blockage in the Chinese

housing market while the architect is coaching the

budgets and shaping the overall collective spatial

assembly. In theory China should be Supermalleable

this way!

Hanna-Barbera’s Jetsons

4/44

The interior street of a Bijlmerflat, showing a resident

and the milkman. Source; Rijnboutt, van der Vossen,

Rijnboutt

Also have a look at;

www.studio-OxL.com

Architecture in limbo;

wouter oostendorp & jouke sieswerda

Journeys CCA; Reinterpretation modernism;

wouter oostendorp & jouke sieswerda

http://www.asianews.it/news-en/Property-speculation-leaves-64.5-

million-vacant-homes-in-China-18895.html

http://www.thestandard.com.hk/news_detail.asp?we_cat=2&art_id=11

7448&sid=34599654&con_type=1&d_str=20111128&fc=10

http://articles.businessinsider.com/2011-06-

20/markets/30018510_1_housing-bubble-vacant-homes-china-stocks