“Change is the only constant in life.” Current high-rise buildings display a sense of permanence, standing as immovable sculptures. Within the building, dark dingy corridors mean residents have little to no connection to others, boxed into their units. With many high-rises in Malaysia using shear wall construction, the lack of adaptability means residents adapt to the unit, rather than adapting the unit to its user.
Inspired by the metabolism movement and the local vernacular kampung, The Growing Hub reimagines high-rise living as architecture that grows and changes with the humans within. A time-space planning approach is needed, where the buildings are “never finished”, constantly changing and adapting to the different residents and users. This impermanence gives the user autonomy and control over his environment and the lifestyle he wishes to create, collaborating with different users within to form a community.
To increase the flexibility of units and towers, a triangular grid is adopted as a base for planning. The triangular grid allows for more connections and responds well to the river edge. The triangular grid expands to the entire city, allowing for opportunities to build and connect the towers.
The growing structure is comprised of a social module at the podium and living modules above. Social modules would house spaces such as clan halls, libraries, auditoriums, and other social spaces needed on a town level. The module is lifted othe ground, touching the ground lightly, giving the land back to nature. The modules take a slanted form, providing natural shade from the tropical sun. For the living module, residential units are naturally shaded by stepping inwards, but terraces are also created for spaces that might require more sunlight, such as commercial areas, shops, communal areas or even residential units that prefer more sun. The module is then topped with a common floor, consisting of open spaces and convenience shops. Within each module, streets-in-the-sky connect the units, creating paths to connection for residents in the module. As the top of each module becomes the open space for the module above, the spaces could be shared by residents of both modules, fostering further social connection between residents. The towers could be connected with a link bridge, creating a new common ground in the sky.
The tower is constructed out of steel components, such as I-beams and diagonal columns. The I-beams connect customised hexagonal columns to the concrete core, and the diagonal columns are connected to the hexagonal column and core with an outrigger and belt truss. Units are made of modular panels according to the triangular grid, allowing flexibility for change. This ease of construction allows for the addition of modules above existing modules without disrupting the daily lives of the users.
The Growing Hub reimagines high-rise living that changes across spacetime, creating flexibility, diversity and connection through connecting spaces and new grounds. The architecture becomes a growing organism, constantly adapting and changing, never truly finished.
