So far, Broad has built 16 structures in China, plus another in Cancun....The company is in the process of franchising this technology to partners in India, Brazil, and Russia. What it’s selling is the world’s first standardized skyscraper, and with it, Zhang aims to turn Broad into the McDonald’s of the sustainable building industry. — Wired
Photo by Noah Sheldon
Lauren Hilgers traveled to Hunan, China where she had a chance to interview Zhang Yue, founder and chairman of Broad Sustainable Building. Broad gained internet "fame" earlier this week by erecting a 30-story building built in 15 days, using prefabricated and modular construction techniques. His latest plan is to construct a 220-story skyscraper using the same techniques.
7 Comments
This is a very interesting proposition. OMA has been studying this lately. Who knows maybe prefab hi rise will succeed before prefad home does. (notice slip of the tongue?)
@Orhan you got a link re: OMA studying this sort of thing (prefab/high-rise)?
How the fuck is building 30-storys mini-skyscrapers in 360 hours at all sustainable? Whether you're talking environmental sustainability, financial sustainability, or whatever kind of sustainability you can fathom, that kind of building speed would only seem to be throwing gas on whatever fire is currently fueling growth.
Being the "McDonald's of sustainability" is a completely self-defeating. But, hey, China is the country that offers us "genuine solid tungsten fake gold coins" so here's to their mind-melting brand of honest dishonesty, yo!
Of course, China is also a country that will literally steamroll it's own citizens in the name of development(warning: gaphic images via link) so maybe I should limit my criticisms of the great republic.
Yo!
Nam read "Reinier de Graaf Manifesto for Simplicity."
Orhan thanks for the info. For those interested Reinier de Graaf's Manifesto for Simplicity™ was presented at the Serpentine Gallery Manifesto Marathon, 19 October 2008.
In regards to Orhan's point I believe the relevant portion is "What we have tried to launch in the context of an exuberant Dubai is a new formula which we have called 'Generics'. Analogous to generic medicine, where in the absence of patents, in the absence of copyright, in the absence of signature, the inventions of planning and architecture could be shared universally, in a more uninhibited and more beneficial way"
I suppose the production of space is becoming the production of buildings.
Block this user
Are you sure you want to block this user and hide all related comments throughout the site?
Archinect
This is your first comment on Archinect. Your comment will be visible once approved.