Kamaishi Citizen Hall Proposal Competition

This project is a public hall planned for the center of the city of Kamaishi, Iwate Prefecture, devastated by the tsunami of March 2011, and is intended as a symbol of post-disaster resurgence. The plan involves bringing a huge facility down to human scale by subdividing it into more approachable volumes, and seeking to make the citizens’ hall as a whole a friendly and familiar landmark, like a hill. A cluster of newly erected buildings will form a clearly defined urban axis resembling a valley. Functions used on a day-to-day basis will face directly on to the street on all sides, so that activity is constantly being projected out on to the street, and the buildings are all “front” and no “back.” The periphery of the large hall in the center of the site, including the conventionally unused rear of the building, is named the Art Loop, and is intended as a freely accessible circuit that citizens can drop by any time. The versatile facility can easily be divided into zones or assigned routes as needed so it can be used for a diverse range of purposes; for instance, sections of the Art Loop can be closed off as needed when events are held at the large or small halls or galleries.