Hybrids III / a+t

Every time my architect friends drop by my office, I have to hide the a+t books and magazines because they always want to borrow them… And I don´t blame them, as the publications by this spanish editorial are useful tools for the architects.

The D Book, Density, HoCo and the Hybrids Series dissect some of the most iconic built/ongoing projects in the world, presented in full detail.

Hybrids III is the last one in the Hybrids series, covering residential mixed-use buildings. The book starts with a brief comparison between hybrid buildings and social condenser built during 1945-1975 to introduce the subject, like the John Hancock Center in Chicago by SOM or the Unite d’Habitation in France by Le Corbusier.

After this historic context, there is a good selection 0f 20 contemporary residential mixed-use buildings, such as the Sky Village by ADEPT + MVRDV, the St Jakob Turm by Herzog & de Meuron, the Market Hall by MVRDV (under construction), the Porta Fira Towers by Toyo Ito + b720, the Beekman tower by Frank Ghery, De Rotterdam by OMA (under construction), the Aqua Tower by Studio Gang and more.

The editorial seems to work very close to the offices, as the detail of the projects are amazing: detailed drawings, large photos, good diagrams, size comparisons, and all the facts you need to completely understand these projects as you can see on the photos after the break:

The capacity of hybrid buildings to generate cities come from their talent to negotiate congestion, to stack complementary functions and to create connection versus segregation. This last issue from the Hybrids series is centred on residential use as a support for actions involving hybrids. The inclusion of housing in mixed developments guarantees continuous functional intensity and tends to be the driving force of financing civic buildings. Nevertheless, the function of living is the most difficult to insert into hybrid programmes, due to recent growing requests of users in terms of privacy and safety. The balance between privacy and community requires a consensus of shared interests, rules that allow diversity without endangering individuality.

- Editorial, Hybrids III

Publisher: a+ t ediciones
Editors: Aurora Fernández Per, Javier Mozas
Editorial Staff: Javier Arpa
Managing: Idoia Esteban
Layout and production: Ricardo Unquera, Delia Argote

Language: Spanish and English
Cover: Paperback
Pages: 272
ISSN: 1132-6409

Index

Torre Velasca / BBPR
Barbican / Chamberlin, Powell & Bon, Arup
Marina City Complex / Bertrand Golberg
John Hancock Center / Skidmore, Owings & Merrill
Brunswick Centre / Patrick Hodgkinson
Ihme Zentrum / Helmut Kloss, Peter Kolb & Partners
The Galleria / David Specter
Unité d’habitation / Le Corbusier, P. Jeanneret
Park Hill / Jack Lynn, Ivor Smith, Lewis Womersley
Gallaratese Complex / Carlo Aymonino, Aldo Rossi, Maurizio Aymonino, Sachim Massaré
Trellick Tower / Ernö Goldfinger
Corviale / Mario Fiorentino

36 Apartments and medical centre / Hamonic + Mason
Youth Housing, Nursery and Occupational Centre / Blanca Lleó
Block 11 / Block Architects
Housing, Offices and Retail Building in Avenida Lisboa / Gonçalo Byrne Arquitectos
Mixed-Use Complex / DEMO architects
Sky Village / ADEPT + MVRDV
St. Jakob Turm / Herzog & de Meuron
KX200 / Allford Hall Monaghan Morris
Library ++ / VMX Architects
Transformation of the Löwenbräu Site / Gigon/Guyer
Pontsteiger / arons en gelauff architecten

Market Hall / MVRDV
Situla Complex / bevk perovic arhitekti
Porta Fira Towers / ITO AA – b720 Arquitectos
Musica Ljubljana / Neutelings Riedijk Architects
Beekman Tower / Gehry Partners
De Rotterdam / OMA
Aqua Tower / Studio Gang Architects
Transformation of the Entrepot Macdonald / OMA (Rem Koolhaas/Floris Alkemade) FAA+XDGA (Floris Alkemade/Xaveer de Geyter)
Sliced Porosity Block / Steven Holl Architects

Buy Hybrids III at a+t.