The people in the world who build tall buildings
I live in Shanghai now
Marshall Strabala (Ma Su · Stebel) has lived in Shanghai for 15 years, and still can't write his Chinese name "Ma Shuo", often missing the three points of "traceability".
He was involved in the design of the world's three tallest buildings, the Burj Khalifa in Dubai at number one and the Shanghai Tower in third. Once the world's seventh tallest building, Nanjing Zifeng Building, was also written by him.
These buildings have become landmarks of the city. The Shanghai Center we are familiar with, after 5 years of capping, is still one of the most popular tourist punching places in the country.
It is the top of Shanghai and there is never a shortage of hot topics. The crowd that queued for 3 hours just to drink a cup of coffee at the flagship store of Duoyun Academy had not yet dispersed, and the world's tallest hotel, J Hotel, came out of nowhere, and in the nearest place to the sky, the luxury above the clouds attracted many people to punch in, and it was difficult to find a room.
Many skyscrapers face a lack of popularity after a few years of construction, and the other floors are deserted except for the observation deck.
But Shanghai Tower is not just a building, but a lively "vertical city". The 106 elevators are like large and small transportation hubs, which are precisely connected to each other, connecting various life possibilities such as office, sightseeing, catering, hotels, culture, and entertainment.
I talked to chief architect Ma Suo about the building's distinctive vitality. He graduated from Harvard University and is one of the world's leading experts in tall buildings.
01
There are 114 elevators in the building
I often get lost
Just past the cross-Chinese New Year's Eve, the Bund canceled the light show. The Shanghai Center, with the damper as the protagonist, created an immersive interactive light and music show, and many people went to watch the premiere.
Located on the 126th floor of the Shanghai Center and weighing 1,000 tons, the damper was originally installed to reduce vibration and swing when high-rise buildings are shaken by wind forces.
Today, it has become a work of art that can be approached. When it swings with the wind, it triggers the sensor, which stimulates the music and images to change and shine.
The stunning show has once again brought the Shanghai Center to the limelight. In June last year, the low-key and mysterious J Hotel was officially opened, attracting many tourists, hotel controllers and high-rise fans to punch in.
It is the tallest hotel in the world, the lobby is located on the 101st floor and has a vertical height of 474 meters. The 120-storey restaurant is 556 meters high, which is also a global record. The room costs nearly 5,000 a night, and it is not necessarily possible to grab it.
Ma Suo also went up to visit with great interest and ate a few meals at the hotel's restaurant. "It's wonderful to see my own buildings evolve over time, and while it's not all out of my own hands, they all happen in spaces I design."
"That's why, at the beginning of planning the building, I wanted it to be flexible enough to accommodate different functions and meet various needs."
J Hotel Shanghai Downtown
Around the world, supertall buildings are often criticized for their low utilization and waste of energy. "The skyscrapers of a lot of skyscrapers are usually empty. There might be a small shop selling some soft drinks and sweets and nothing else. ”
But Ma wants downtown Shanghai to be a "vertical city" where everyone can have fun.
With 127 floors above ground and 5 floors underground in downtown Shanghai, Ma Suo's favorite is the Duoyun Academy flagship store on the 52nd floor, where he sometimes drinks a cup of coffee and eats a sandwich, which he "never dreamed of".
Since its opening, the flagship store of Duoyun Academy has been a popular landmark in Shanghai, and it has been queued for at least 3 hours when it first opened, and now it is necessary to make an appointment in advance to enter.
On the day I went, I saw many Shanghai aunts and their little sisters drinking afternoon tea and taking photos at the window, and discussed going to the observation deck to take a few photos, after all, "come and go, this is our tallest building in Shanghai."
Duoyun Academy flagship store
All of these things made Ma Shu feel very accomplished: "Our concept of a 'vertical city' is really unusual, and no other building in this world has ever done it." ”
At the beginning of the construction of the Shanghai Center, Kong Qingwei, then the general manager of Shanghai City Investment, told Ma Suo, "The Shanghai Center should be a gift to the people of Shanghai." Now Ma Suo felt that he had done it.
A total of 114 elevators have been installed in the Shanghai Center. The transfer system is quite complicated, and even Ma Shu himself often gets lost.
This huge and rich vertical city has been busy, alive and full of vitality for so many years.
02
The third tallest building in the world
It was cut down 50 meters
In 2001, Ma Suo came to Shanghai for the first time to represent the SOM Architectural Firm where he was at the time to a meeting at the Jin Mao Tower.
After getting out of Hongqiao Airport, he got into a taxi and told the driver that he was going to Jin Mao, and the other party couldn't understand his pronunciation, but just asked "what way" with all his strength. After tossing and turning for half a day, Ma Suo took out a pen and paper and drew the outline of the Jin Mao Tower, and the driver immediately understood.
He was impressed by the incident: a good building is a landmark of the city, and you don't have to give someone an address, just draw what it looks like and people know where it is.
Because of this, in the process of designing the Shanghai Center, Ma Suo hopes to create a building that truly belongs to Shanghai than to the obsession with "the world's tallest".
In 2006, their team participated in the first round of bidding. According to his initial vision, the height of the Shanghai center should be 680 meters. But after submitting this version of the plan, everyone felt that this height was too abrupt.
Kong Qingwei told Ma That the three skyscrapers in Lujiazui should have a complete and harmonious relationship. "So we built a model of the city of Shanghai and spent a long time looking at it, looking at the ups and downs of the city, and constantly adjusting the ideal height of the Shanghai center."
"Indeed, 680 meters is too high, and it seems that it is just 'high' to go straight up to the sky."
The final height of the Shanghai center is set at 632 meters, which is 210 meters higher than the 422-meter Jin Mao Tower and 140 meters higher than the 492-meter World Financial Center. The three towers form a gentle ascending arc.
Now, the combination of Lujiazui's "kitchen three-piece set" has been deeply rooted in the hearts of the people. The Shanghai Center has not become an isolated building, thanks in large part to the 50 meters that were abandoned.
In addition to its height, the peculiar shape of the Shanghai Center is also what makes it very recognizable.
This spiraling, twisted building has many associations that unfold around it: some say it resembles a spiraling dragon, some say it meanders the Huangpu River.
I told MaZo about this, and he seemed very happy: "I think when people start to name the building, or say what it looks like, it means that they have accepted it in their hearts." 」 It's like you don't name a child until you have it. ”
However, none of the above conjectures were his original design intentions. The twist of the building was based on his experience in the Burj Khalifa project: the shape of the spiral is more resistant to wind.
At the same time, the rounded appearance also makes the overall style of the building appear more moderate, which has been unanimously favored by the jury and stood out among the proposals of many internationally renowned firms.
"Because it's circular, the sun can always cast highlights at an angle. When you look at it from any direction, the tallest building in Shanghai will always be the brightest, just like the future of the city. ”
03
Experts in high-rise buildings
The favorite building has only 6 floors
Now, Ma Suo settled in Shanghai and founded Ma Suo Architectural Design Consulting (Shanghai) Co., Ltd., with an office on the 56th floor of The Shanghai Center.
His office is piled high with models of various projects, including a new skyscraper about to rise in Cambodia.
He seems to have become a world-renowned expert in supertall buildings, but none of this is actually within his plan.
As a child, he grew up near San Francisco, always liked to draw, and later admitted to the University of California, Los Angeles, also majored in art design, studying printmaking, ceramics, sculpture and other courses.
It wasn't until the final year of his undergraduate that his then-girlfriend wanted to become an architect, so the two applied for graduate students at Harvard University's School of Architecture. He got in, but his girlfriend didn't. But it was also because of this opportunity that he fell in love with architecture from then on.
After graduation, he joined SOM, one of the world's top design firms, where he designed the 828-meter Burj Khalifa. The effect of this building is still shocking, and it has also equated Ma Suo's name with the "man who built the tall building".
Burj Khalifa, Dubai
After the construction of Shanghai Center began, he gradually shifted the focus of his work and life to Shanghai. He has spent almost all of his time in Shanghai over the past 15 years and has witnessed the city's changes.
"When I first arrived, a lot of taxi drivers didn't speak English. And now, I'm calling a cab on a Friday night and the driver sings Whitney Houston's song aloud in English, and the change is amazing. ”
"At that time, I was on my way to jin mao tower, and I saw that there were not many buildings in Pudong, and the world financial center did not exist, which was very empty. Now, Shanghai has developed into a huge and prosperous city, as if Lujiazui has always been there. ”
He likened the construction of tall buildings to a long marathon, which takes 10-12 years. During this time, the world is likely to change too much, and a recession, rising steel prices, customer demand for change, etc., is a far more laborious thing than imagined.
Of all the projects he's done, the Houston Ballet Center, the smallest, is his favorite piece.
It has only 6 floors and covers an area of 10,000 square meters. Mazo used to live next door to it, passing by every day, and thus met almost everyone from the art director to the clothing salesman.
"I often chat with them and ask them what they want. They told me that the metal roof now can be noisy when it rains, and the floor is in terrible condition... I took all of these issues into my design. ”
"They recognized me because I gave them a beautiful new home. Whenever I go back to Houston, I go to see the building and see the kids there. ”
Houston Ballet Center
Just a few days before I met Ma, the Merdeka 118 Building in Malaysia had just been topped out, replacing the Shanghai Tower as the world's second tallest building.
But Ma Suo never cared about these number games. "If I can't build skyscrapers anymore, I don't think it matters. For me, any building, big or small, is important. ”
Text, Editor/Strawberry
Photography / Wiley
Some of the footage is provided by Shanghai Center
The above content is from "The Bund TheBund" (WeChat: the-bund)
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