INUJIMA ECOCULTURE ISLAND

with Dana Saari

FALL 2022 NANAKO UMEMOTO + JASMINE LEE SETO INLAND SEA, JAPAN

Inujima, Ecoculture Island introduces a sustainable energy and food production system that serves visitors during the island’s on-season art festival and exports during the off-season, for the goal of creating an environment at the intersection of nature, art and sustainability.

Inujima is an island of solid granite in the Seto Inland Sea of Japan. The first source of inspiration were the different erosion processes that happen naturally in granite. We looked at this geologic wearing away in three different scales: tafoni at the smallest scale, where water nestles into the surface and pushes outwards to create pockets and dense lattice-like patterns. Tidal pools are a slightly larger expression of this erosion, in which small pools catch and flood as the tide changes and become home to dynamic micro-ecosystems. Finally at the largest scale, we looked at granite boulders that are formed by wind and rain and result in large sculptural formations.

Introducing these textures onto the island created pockets that catch rainwater and tidal water. Water flows in its natural way, responding to gravity, wind, and sun. It responds to and influences the topography it runs through.

Gravity diagram of existing topographical conditions

Existing conditions island uses and circulation

Gravity diagram of intervention on topography

Interventions in use and circulation

Undeveloped zone

Arts and culture zone

Natural recreational zone

Transportation zone

Residential zone Intervention areas

Right: Diagrammatic representation of the systems at play on Inujima

A: Tourism related to Setouchi Art Triennale

B: Aquaponics yield

C: Demand for geothermal heating and cooling

D Hydroponics yield

E: Tidal energy

Below: Diagrammatic representation of the water cycle and points at which systems interact with the cycle

An organizational logic was extracted from the various scales of tafoni pockets to serve different purposes on the island. These formations then form a sort of organic grid that we apply to the site in order to create a dynamic circulation into our focus area on the northwest side of the island. By using different scales we are able to create different levels of experience of the island.

As our project developed we became interested in introducing a secondary grid to contrast with the organic site strategy. Further, because our focus area is on a quarry site, the more orthogonal geometry lends well to using the large blocks of granite that are cut from the island. Controlled geometries of hydroponic systems are intercepted by the looser evolution of tafoni expressions of artistic spaces.

The goal of these interventions is to be sustainable and compatible with the existing island infrastructurally, economically and ecologically. Geothermal heating and cooling is utilized by using a standing column well to heat the tanks used for onshore aquaculture farming of tilapia. Heat is gathered from the heat pump exchange beneath the water table and brought up through pumps and piping to a radiant heat flooring system to heat the water and building. About 95 % of water is able to be recirculated in tilapia farming, but the remaining waste water and solid waste generated will be sent to the aquaponics systems which the plants will use as nutrients to grow and clean the water. Harvest from the aquaponics will additionally be able to be used to feed the fish. Our aquaponics system will be operated seasonally, meaning that different crops will be grown during different seasons to respect the emphasis on seasonality in Japanese cuisine. It also reflects the importance of time and cycles of use that has been present on Inujima since the inception of the Setouchi Art Triennale. The infrastructure of the island can respond to the demands of the influx of visitors to be self-sustaining during its on-season, and has the ability to export goods during the off season.

Dissecting and analyzing these processes influenced how our tectonic system works in tandem with the ecological systems. Heavy orthogonal structures are broken down with tafoni interruption. Paths come together and blend into one, but then diverge as distinct moments. The topography itself flows with the paths, rising and falling so the experience of the island can feel natural and explorative, and the buildings are embedded into the ground, with terracing that stretches around and over the buildings. The tafoni intervention accommodates this topography by creating access points and different levels and a flow from inside to outside in the galleries.

The orthogonal terracing and buildings speak to the existing granite quarry landscape, while the organic geometry reflects our site strategy and intervention, drawing from tafoni as a type of granite erosion. We see this on multiple levels, both in the paths and zones that organize the whole island, as well as our focus area which brings a new program integrating both art, science, food production, and landscaping to an underutilized retired quarry.