Making of Public Realm From Three Recent Projects
The three recent projects presented in this exhibition illustrate the diversity of "publicness" in today's society characteristics revealed by observing the influence of building context and function on human interactions. Public spaces that sensitively reflect context and function instill in their visitors a sense of some underlying common bond, a "collective subconscious." The recognition of a collective subconscious is one of the intangibles that breathes life into a great work of architecture.
Morphological formations of old Tokyo essentially followed its dominant topographical fcatures. Even at the city's microscale level existing trees and winding alleys were left intact as the city grew. This attitude marks a clear contrast to the morphology of Western cities, in which rational constructs of spaces represent the dominant principle. Thus, in Tokyo small residual spaces between buildings and artifacts were given more care and attention, and the division between public and private domains became more ambiguous and manifold.
The urban design principles applied to the Hillside Terrace and Hillside West projects are a part of this tradition. Over the last ten years Hillside Tefface has become a small mecca of diverse activities including art and architecture exhibitions, musical performances, and lectures. Cafes, stores, and galleries coexist-, plazas and courtyards are used for community festivals. Yet, even with all of this activity, these ventures have never been institutionalized. They are a natural result of the spatial and functional informality of the public spaces.
Kaze-no-Oka Crematorium offers a different kind of "publicness." When the city of Nakatsu decided to rebuild its obsolete crematorium, the mayor acquired suffounding properties to allow the integration of the new crematorium as part of a park and mitigate its impact on the neighboring community. Together with an existing cemetery and newly discovered 6th century burial ground, the crematorium's site encompasses a small necropolis, a perfect example of a "heterotopia" as defined by Michel Foucault. This heterotopia is a place at once outside and a part of everyday life; it is at once extraordinary and ordinary, allowing one to step back and ponder everyday life from a distance. The surrounding park echoes the serenity and dignity of the crematorium; both offer a lasting memory for those who pay final tribute to their beloved. At the same time, the park is becoming an increasingly popular place of leisure for Nakatu's citizens. The extraordinary place that is the crematorium and cemetery is becoming an ordinary public place of the city.
Hillside Terrace and Kaze-no-Oka Crematorium are site-specific - their genius loci arises out of their given context and site history. In contrast, the Floating Pavilion of Groningen, Netherlands is non-site specific. The small figure of the pavilion floats along a canal. However, it has a commanding public presence because of its unique silhouette and its function as a stage. When the pavilion sails through the misty countryside, its double spiral roof merges with the clouds in the sky. Cast against a dark green forest, the pavilion transforms itself into a white swan. Lit up for evening festivities, its forms have been likened to a red snail. Unlike a fixed building, this pavilion changes location, evoking different images and, in tum, transforming the image of the place. During the short summertime, the pavilion offers Groningen's citizens a stage for performances, music, poetry reading, and dance. The reciprocal relationships among environment, citizens, and architecture reveal the dynamic public nature of the Floating Pavilion.
These three projects suggest that there are many ways to provide public places in our society. In the modem world, the public domain is not clearly demarcated like the agora of ancient Greek cities; anyplace and everyplace can become an agora. These places, however, should not be simply consumed by the interests of short-term investment and current fashion. They must conjure deeper meaning and interest for its visitors. Only three years after the crematorium was opened, already thousands of people from all over Japan have visited and expressed their desires to be cremated there. Kaze-no-Oka has evidently resonated with its visitors; perhaps its public spaces have uncovered a "collective subconscious," a feeling of shared experience. One challenge for architects today is to find the collective subconscious of our time and translate it into form and space.
Fumihiko Maki
Mayıs 1999
Morphological formations of old Tokyo essentially followed its dominant topographical fcatures. Even at the city's microscale level existing trees and winding alleys were left intact as the city grew. This attitude marks a clear contrast to the morphology of Western cities, in which rational constructs of spaces represent the dominant principle. Thus, in Tokyo small residual spaces between buildings and artifacts were given more care and attention, and the division between public and private domains became more ambiguous and manifold.
The urban design principles applied to the Hillside Terrace and Hillside West projects are a part of this tradition. Over the last ten years Hillside Tefface has become a small mecca of diverse activities including art and architecture exhibitions, musical performances, and lectures. Cafes, stores, and galleries coexist-, plazas and courtyards are used for community festivals. Yet, even with all of this activity, these ventures have never been institutionalized. They are a natural result of the spatial and functional informality of the public spaces.
Kaze-no-Oka Crematorium offers a different kind of "publicness." When the city of Nakatsu decided to rebuild its obsolete crematorium, the mayor acquired suffounding properties to allow the integration of the new crematorium as part of a park and mitigate its impact on the neighboring community. Together with an existing cemetery and newly discovered 6th century burial ground, the crematorium's site encompasses a small necropolis, a perfect example of a "heterotopia" as defined by Michel Foucault. This heterotopia is a place at once outside and a part of everyday life; it is at once extraordinary and ordinary, allowing one to step back and ponder everyday life from a distance. The surrounding park echoes the serenity and dignity of the crematorium; both offer a lasting memory for those who pay final tribute to their beloved. At the same time, the park is becoming an increasingly popular place of leisure for Nakatu's citizens. The extraordinary place that is the crematorium and cemetery is becoming an ordinary public place of the city.
Hillside Terrace and Kaze-no-Oka Crematorium are site-specific - their genius loci arises out of their given context and site history. In contrast, the Floating Pavilion of Groningen, Netherlands is non-site specific. The small figure of the pavilion floats along a canal. However, it has a commanding public presence because of its unique silhouette and its function as a stage. When the pavilion sails through the misty countryside, its double spiral roof merges with the clouds in the sky. Cast against a dark green forest, the pavilion transforms itself into a white swan. Lit up for evening festivities, its forms have been likened to a red snail. Unlike a fixed building, this pavilion changes location, evoking different images and, in tum, transforming the image of the place. During the short summertime, the pavilion offers Groningen's citizens a stage for performances, music, poetry reading, and dance. The reciprocal relationships among environment, citizens, and architecture reveal the dynamic public nature of the Floating Pavilion.
These three projects suggest that there are many ways to provide public places in our society. In the modem world, the public domain is not clearly demarcated like the agora of ancient Greek cities; anyplace and everyplace can become an agora. These places, however, should not be simply consumed by the interests of short-term investment and current fashion. They must conjure deeper meaning and interest for its visitors. Only three years after the crematorium was opened, already thousands of people from all over Japan have visited and expressed their desires to be cremated there. Kaze-no-Oka has evidently resonated with its visitors; perhaps its public spaces have uncovered a "collective subconscious," a feeling of shared experience. One challenge for architects today is to find the collective subconscious of our time and translate it into form and space.
Fumihiko Maki
Mayıs 1999
