Low wages, long working hours, and an increasing burden due to the excessive demands of parents cause a shortage of childcare workers. There is also the NIMBY problem, where residents’ opposition to the construction of childcare facilities has forced them into poor conditions, such as under elevated railway tracks. All of these problems are caused by the fact that childcare is regarded as someone else’s business. A binary pits child welfare against economic activity and living conditions and excludes it. We tear away the asphalt that is paved by egoism. The soil opens up childcare, which used to be on the “other side” of the wall, to the city through activities such as composting, fieldwork and, children’s play in the soil.
West Side Highway
It is characteristic circulation in Tokyo that the stress between a highway, which is a huge infrastructure appeared from the present age, and the residential area of the small or middle scale around it. Then this project was considered about the way of the huge building which is adapted to a various demands, including housing, of the city.
We divided the building into three zone: high rise medium rise-low rise. Therefore, we make three level for the building, as it will be seen from the back side and the local street side. These height differences shows communication between the maximum height of the palazzo with the neighborhood site.
Thus we make two contrast facade; back side with the heights difference and vast square for the front facade seen from the highway and main street. In facade, we emphasize the back facade by using terrace and made it randomly configurated. For the front side, vast surface of square with regular small windows. Knowing that the palazzo location is near the highway which mostly blocked, we also put special box as a hollow to catch the attention from the passerby.
We decided 3 layers by composition of existing palazzo and relationship to facing highway. Lower part is for pedestrian, middle part is facing to highway, and above is higher part. This building get the facade that reflect context by articulation of volume and opening. We make a connection with shop in lower part and common space in middle by continuous step and terrace from sectional zoning of program. In upper part, change shape of plan conforming with terrace or articulation of elevation.
Ward Office Palazzo
The assignment is to design a “palazzo” in Aoyama. The site is located on the boundary of a “block”, which is a typical component of urban area in Tokyo. It is a transition area between low-dense social housing area and a main commercial street with high-rises standing along.
The concept of the project is to create two kinds of distinctive spaces in one building with open spaces in lower floors and private spaces in upper floors. It is designed to deal with the complex functions, which is supposed to be the key characteristic for a Tokyo palazzo. In consideration of the urban fabric, the volume continues the interface of the street in the same height with the next building. In the lower part, ward office is set to be the primary function, which can be a core to combine public functions for the community. There is a wide open shared space in the ground floor to link the two sides of the site and different functions are organized in the form of blocks to make the remaining part floating spaces. In the upper part, office and apartments act as introverted spaces showing another face of this building. Also, the apartments take the form of a patio in the middle to echo the two typical cases of palazzo nearby.
Waste Disposal
While in the early Meji Period the disposal of waste was part of a spatially limited and circular network, linking agricultural fields with markets and houses, and from there, when not recycled, again to the fields, the economic and demographic growth of the post-war period, especially in Tokyo, saw the introduction of public waste collection, primarily disposed of in landfills. This unilinear processing from production to consumption began to be increasingly called into question, starting in the mid-1980’s with the introduction of a new recycling system involving an evermore refined rubbish separation for recyclable goods, the exploitation of mix-waste for energy in large power stations, and hazardous waste being exported and reprocessed overseas. The waste-management system has thus evolved into a large, complex, and sometimes invisible chain involving multiple actors. Waste is no longer perceived as either a purely homogenous and useful resource or solely as landfill material, but rather as consisting of different constituents with varying values and repurposing potentials.
CAPSULE_CLUB
Tourists visiting Tokyo may not be architectural fans, however, anyone remains fascinated by this unique piece of architecture – Nakagin Capsule Tower. Together with development of Internet, SNS and later – Instagram, more and more people become aware and begin appreciating its silent appearance. Nevertheless, this silence makes spectators indifferent to the fate of this building and they remain unaware of drama moving around this building for many years. During this exhibition it became possible to show the hidden life inside the building. By conducting interviews with residents different stories were told, what shows diversity of capsule interiors and lifestyles behind similar facades and round windows. Instagram in this case serves as a tool to connect people outside and inside in order to fill a gap between indifference and passion. Visitors of the exhibition may not only view but also touch and feel actual things brought from different residents. Thus, such awareness and publicity that follows development of applications like Instagram may help us preserve buildings longer.