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.
OTAKU FACTORY
Ikebukuro is now a sacred place for anime otaku with various anime stores and also home to many authentic cosplayers, such as the “Ikebukuro Halloween Cosplay”. Many of these cosplayers also make their own costumes and equipment.
Although there are many places to express cosplay, the creation of these costumes is done at home while re- searching on the Internet. So, I want to make A place to create cosplay and other secondary works.
Firstly, I suggest 10 types of places for secondary cre- ation, For example, Cutting area, sawing area, 3D print- er area and so on. These places are painted in yellow. We can do the whole cosplay creation in this floor, as well figure, illustration and manga creation.
The working space is 300mm higher than the other area. Since most of the work is done sitted, the aim is to keep the line of sight between the person working and the person standing in the other space.
Let’ s image that you want to be Tanjiro. You have to do this in three steps. Clothes, objects like sord, and make- up. When you create on this floor, the process proceeds in the order of these three arrows here on the right.
I went to Ikebukuro to observe the activities of various otaku. Beside the creation area, there are five different types activities which I looked. (1) Cosplay shooting area. A curtain can be used as a background. The aisle is wide enough to take pictures. (2) Large poster area. we can take a picture with your favorite character. The poster can be printed at the printer area next door. (3) Manga area. There are manga on the shelves for you to read with your coffee. (4) Flea market area. The bench is wider and can be used to place items. (5) GachaGa- cha area. it is near the elevator and escalator. so we can access easily.
Hence, the edges of the creation area host additional programs. (a) Manga shelf. Three shelves are provided for storing manga while displaying them. (b) Cosplay shooting edge. There is a curtain for the background of the cosplay shooting. (c) Flea market area’s. The width of the bench is 1000mm so that products can be spread out.
Studio is cross-sectionally connected to the upper floor, which has the re-clothe center. In that manner, we share the studio and held event about cloth and cosplay.
Of course, this floor is mainly used by Otaku, but there are some great facilities here. So, architecture students can use 3D printers, wife can sew, and so on. There are also cafes in easily accessible locations, so some people will feel free to stop by. I strongly hope that the cre- ations and techniques of otaku are not only for otaku, but that they can be passed on to other people as well.
COSPLAY AND REFLEXIVITY
Anthony Giddens proposed the idea of “reflexivity” from the perspective of sociology. It means “a spiral- ing cycle of transferring oneself to others, which then returns to oneself and transforms oneself. The act of cosplaying is to become “someone else” and to en- ter the “otaku society” including the cosplay society. And within that otaku society, they are recursively ex- pressing themselves.
Some people who engage in cosplay do so for the pur- pose of escaping the “real world” that is not otaku so- ciety. This is similar to what is called “identification” in psychology. Identification is the act of trying to escape anxiety and pain by superimposing oneself with things that are important to one. It is also based on a lack of self-confidence and a desire to become a person whose complexes have been resolved.
However, self-expression in otaku society can also have a reflexive effect on the real world. For example, in or- der to become more like a character in cosplay, one may start to pay more attention to skin care and style, or learn to be more social in a cosplay society with many rules. Through the reflexive nature of cosplay society, we can gain a reflexive nature with the real world.
And cosplay is a place where the “place of presen- tation” is socialized, and its creation stage is black boxed. On the other hand, the techniques used to create cosplay are actually very advanced. For ex- ample, the swords used in cosplay are made to be lightweight and the materials used are ingenious so that they do not become tiring to hold during long events. However, there is no place to learn these tech- niques, so cosplayers learn how to make them from the Internet or by giving each other advice on how to make cosplays at events where they are presented.
The purpose of this proposal is to bundle and make public the cosplay creation techniques that have been closed and not made public until now.
What’s important about this proposal is that the work- ing area is open to more than just cosplayers. This will be a place where the behavior of “creation” will be shared, centering on the cosplay creators.
Tabata / Book Station
There were many writers living around Tabata station. Bunshi village, where creative activi-ties were developed through intense competition, is now a residential area on a highland spreading beyond a small south entrance. On the other hand, the north entrance is crowded with various residents in a space covered with a sloping roof, which resembles the Western terminal station. Because of the form type of the station, which stands above the platform and also due to the crossing of the Yamanote line and the Keihin Tohoku line, the scale of the roof is extremely huge.Though the spread of e-books is becoming intense, books as physical objects will never disappear. Rather in recent years, the experience of reading books has been given a new role by fusing bookstores with cafes and hotels. If the station becomes a landmark of the area and explores the idea of becoming a base for new exchanges based on the culture and experience of the book, how would Tabata station would look like? A library with book shelves is arranged symmetrically along the structure of the large roof. In accordance with the escalator position from the two platforms, a escalator connecting to the second floor is made, inviting people to enter a space full of bookshelves beneath a void that symbolizes the “Book Station”. The bookshelf from the catwalk on the side of the slope roof is expanded and spread towards the places such as bakery and souvenir shop. Ever- ything is managed with tags and everybody can lend and borrow the books from anywhere. The theme is that of the book that gathers changes whenever someone uses it. On the back of a tall bookshelf, in order to continue the culture of creating books, facilities such as writing class along with editorial and publishing facilities help users to engage in these interests.
Staircase
From the Meiji Period to today the techniques of firefighting have shifted from the protection of a district, with large main streets or fire-resistant storehouses providing firebreaks, to en-masse fire-protected buildings, ensuring people’s ability to escape a conflagration. In the post-war period, with the densification of Tokyo, the vertical concrete staircases in multistory buildings—which themselves served as firebreaks along the main streets—became the major escape route, complemented by various types of devices that can be used from balconies or windows. In contemporary high-rises the common circulation system has become host to an entire emergency system, with smoke and gas detectors, alarms connected to ground-floor emergency centers, sprinklers, fireproof staircases, special emergency fire-fighter elevators, and even rooftop helicopter landing-pads.
Performing Arts / Park-Yard
The preparation process of the drama is usually hidden inside a closed small theater, which is only opened during performances. In the Covid-19 situation, a very small amount of performance makes the actor’s life difficult to sustain.
Taking this as an opportunity, we hope to release parts of the functions of the preparation process into the park and the open ground floor space as a workshop, with the intention of opening and displaying the process of drama preparation and sharing skills in cooperation with surrounding residents.