TYPE: ACADEMIC WORK - GRADUATE STUDIO

TIME: 2012.3-2012.6

TUTOR: XU WEIGUO

PARTNER: WEI SHIYU

ROLE: LANDSCAPE DESIGN, URBAN DESIGN, MODLE

LOCATION: SENDAI, JAPAN

TOTAL AREA: 63.5 HM²

AWARD: SECOND PRIZE, UA COMPETITION 2013

 

HOW CAN MEMORY OF THE PERSISHED BRINGN EW LIFE TO THE SURVIVALS?

 

Sendai is the largest economic and cultural center in the northeast of Japan. The coastal area in the city was hugely damaged by the 3-11 Tsunami. Almost all the artificiality and natural objects turned into ruins. The land and the remained relics experienced that catastrophe, thus maintained memory of this event. The main challenge in this project is how to keep the memory of the dead meanwhile create a new hometown for the survivals.

 

First we find the influenced area of this remnants, Radius are according to the building size, the degree of importance, and the reachability. Then we give the three type of attractors’ weight as well as different parameters to form attraction force fields.

 

When come to the Subdivision, we take the remnants, the terrains and the village population into account. The attractors have certain connections on the contour lines, we also add more subdivision control points for the former 3 thousand villagers. We figure out high field which is fit for main road and refuge, the lower land good to place memorial park and woodland, the slopes for landscape and so on.

 

We choose “L” type as the prototype which can enclose courtyards. According to the 3 kinds of architecture we design in the site, the narrow “L”, only 2 meters wide, is considered as plank road for sight-seeing along the coast where the construction of architecture is forbidden. The mid-scale “L”, 6 to 8 meters wide, is determined to be housing units. Finally, the thick “L”, 20-25meters wide, should undertake the function of public architecture such as museum, school and office. Public architecture locate on the highest area in the site and can be turned to be refuges when disasters happen. Housing units design are especially considered. In Japanese culture, living-dining room is an essential region to gather family together and also collect outdoor space to communicate. Accessibility of a room to central hall and integrity of independence room unit are related to different degree of spatial cause. Taking living room as the center, we design different kinds of houses extending along the “L” for different families. When housing units are collaged together as 3-storey buildings, semi- outer space is formed functioning as path, entrance and balcony.

 

“Courtyard” plays an important role in Japanese culture. We try to follow this tradition and organize all the housing units and public architecture by courtyards in different scales and different degrees of publicity.

 

All the houses and public buildings are organized by courtyards. The courtyards are in different scales and have different characteristics of private, semi-private, semi-public or public.  The courtyards have different functions such as bunker, lawn, sports field, square, park and even open market according to its scale and degree of publicity.

 

The Shape of courtyard is influenced by the terrain. When height difference between interior floor and the exterior floor exists, the architecture facades, which consist of horizontal elements, would have different slopes.  With different floor level, size and façade, Courtyard architecture have different background settings for activities to take place.