Design Transformation for the Sustainability of High-rise Residential Buildings

The design of high-rise residential buildings in Shanghai has been changing in recent years. This transformation encompassed the changes in: building shape, floor plan composition, the number of apartments on each floor, the functionality of each apartment and living habits. Gianfranco Caniggia's architectural composition and building typology methodology was used to study Shanghai's architectural transformation. The author has found the following trends: 1. Shanghai's high-rise residential buildings are increasingly following the trend of combined apartment buildings that leads to high economic benefit; 2. Auxiliary area, shared between apartments, are accounting for larger portion of a typical floor plan (additional 12-18% of external auxiliary area). Understanding the causes and effects of this transformation in design will provide valuable lessons for other developing metropolitans in China and other countries in the region.