Osion kuvaus

  • Yleinen

    BUILDING-NATURE METAXOGRAPHY IN TOKYO


    birdview of toyosu

    Spring 2023

    18 sp studio course at Aalto University Department of Architecture, organised in collaboration with the Architecture Department of Shibaura Institute of Technology (SIT), Tokyo, Japan (professors Kiwa Matsushita and Satoru Yamashiro).


    ARK-E1021 

    Spring Studio 2023 - Advanced Building Design Studio (provided by Emergent Design Methodologies)

     

    Max. 16 students

     

    Periods III-IV 13/1-21/4/2023 (includes intensive workshop period 2-11/3/2023; late submission deadline 9/6/2023)

    Live teaching on Fridays at 9:15 – 12 (except final review 21/4/2022 9:15-16). 

     

    Teachers:

    prof. Antti Ahlava (antti.ahlava@aalto.fi, 050 324 1179) + architects Selina Anttinen and Eero Lunden; with prof. Minna Sunikka-Blank as a visiting teacher (from The University of Cambridge) as well as prof. Keng Hua from Singapore Institute of Technology.

     

    The assignment is to design a Maritime Centre to Toyosu area, Tokyo. The activities of the centre should be educational, scientific and recreational.

    The floor areal of the new complex is app. 10.000 sqm.

    The project has a thematic emphasis, which is relationships between man-made constructions and nature. We will continue the pursuit on metaxography (study of relationships) with a focus on this specific relationship. The project will also contribute to understanding and protecting sea nature. In addition to generic spaces (such as office rooms, meeting rooms and mobility areas), the spaces will include e.g. these maritime-related activities:

    • Exhibition space
    • Library
    • Research Centre
    • Event spaces
    • Submarine and boat station

    Some of the enhanced, restored and cultivated nature elements could be e.g.

    NATURE ELEMENT EXAMPLE

    • Vegetation
    • Naturalised coastal ecosystem
    • Underwater nature
    • Floating nature
    • Urban farming
    • Vertical farming
    • Pond
    • Island
    • Stream
    • The building systems as nature: air, water, energy
    • Biodiversity
    • Fungus and bacteria
    • Organic building materials
    • Soil

    Generally the course is based on the assumptions that 

    1) sea areas should be equal to parks on land in land use from the viewpoint of ecosystem services

    2) the biodiversity of the sea should be as important as on land (including habitats for e.g. algae and mussels). 

    Architectural features could include for example

    Water-related:

    • Underwater spaces
    • Roof gardens
    • Holes in water
    • Canals, bays and pools
    • Waterfalls
    • Embankments
    • Piers
    • Boardwalks


    Flora-related:

    • Vertical gardens
    • Roof and terrace gardens
    • Indoor gardens


    Air and sun -related:

    • Patios
    • Atriums
    • Window strategy
    • Roof windows


    The methodological focus is thus on the development of ”metaxography” in architecture - design based on relationships. What if architecture was not only about the design of objects, but the design of relationships? The normative design in the built environment has traditionally focussed on building as a product and not on experience and interaction, which are the essentials of ontographic anthropology. An anthropological perspective in architectural design creates a unique opportunity to describe current practices meaningfully and supports a progressive anthropological change in the conception of architecture.


    International workshop

    There will be a workshop with SIT teachers and students on 3-10/3/2023 in Tokyo (flights from Helsinki on 1st of March and from Tokyo on the 11th of March). We have received external funding to partially cover the students' expenses, but each student should pay app. 150–350 eur (depending on the student's study success GPA and the cost of your own travel insurance required by Shibaura Institute of Technology; the estimated costs are based on the situation on January 3rd, 2022). It is also possible to join the workshop remotely from Finland.

    Aalto and SIT students will research the site and and make excursions in Tokyo area, as well as work in mixed Aalto-SIT groups to make a small separate design project in order to deepen the understanding of the site as well as to have a project which they can intensely work together and finish within the 8-day workshop.


    Prereading

    Please read this introductory text before coming to the first session of the course: Metaxographic Architecture