Notches in the top and bottom layers of this volume create voids, areas I call summer and winter gardens, that sandwich a residential zone floating in the air. The building itself consists of a large roof (hyper-roof), which has a maximum thickness of three floors and an average thickness of about two floors. The pilotis space formed beneath the hyper-roof can be used independently from the building to house things like culture facilities, shops, and daycare centers as well as a public evacuation shelter or a departure base for the nebuta floats used in a local festival. The hyper-roof provides the area with a new passage to enjoy snow instead of the gangi covered alleys common in the region.
The summer garden is a mortar-shaped space with a wide expanse of sky. It is well-ventilated and is equipped with leafy shade. In the winter, the ground line is altered by the accumulation of snow. The winter garden is a dome-like space in which light pours in through a hole, like the Pantheon in Rome. The snow does not pile up and warm air is retained in the space. The summer and winter gardens appear in turn on the ground surface, equipped with undulations, creating a different landscape depending on the season.
When one looks down over the structure from a surrounding building, the pattern created by the void in the flat roof and private court act as a fifth facade.
| location | Aomori City, Aomori Pref. |
|---|---|
| principal use | collective housing |
| total floor area | 28,420m2 |
| structure | steel, reinforced concrete, steel reinforced concrete 1 basement and 4 stories |
| competition result | Jury’s Special Prize, Open Design Competition in 2001 |