Face of HORAIKAN

The Nebama coast lost its beautiful sand beach, hit by a massive earthquake and tsunami. It is said that in only a few years, this area will become as handsome as it once was. I designed this wood deck for the day when we can look towards the sea and again see that beautiful beach. A “TERRACE-FOR-ALL” is a place for the Horaikan Inn’s guests to have breakfast under the morning sun or a BBQ party. The place is infected with the spirit of “voluntary communality” open to all.
A trellis-like fence acts as a new facade for the main inn, which was little more than an exposed structural frame. Additionally, it expanded how spaces on each side of the fence could be used. I designed a construction joint for relatively easy set-up, in light of shortages of skilled labor. Four layers of angled timber frames are prefabricated and the fence can be fastened onto the foundation with hinges. Each unit is angled 34 degrees from the groundplane and joined simply, using screws.
Toyo Ito visited the Horaikan Inn on 25 July, 2011 when I was there. He showed me sketches from his project “Picturing ‘HOME-FOR-ALL,’” calling on architects around the world to draw a primitive architecture for gathering, sharing and communicating, in spite of the extreme circumstances. He also had children’s sketches, and in some, people sat around a big dining table; the children’s sketches were much more fun than architects’ images. This exciting conversation with Ito inspired the Horaikan hotelier and myself to build “A Big Table for All,” 3 m x14 m in reinforced concrete.