Transforming Omishima

Toyo Ito / Jun Yanagisawa

Transforming Omishima

Fall 2017

Studio Report

Toyo Ito / Jun Yanagisawa

Transforming Omishima

Transforming Omishima Omishima, an island in the Seto Inland Sea of Japan, has orange orchards and forested mountains covering much of its land and 13 hamlets scattered along its coast. The renowned Oyamazumi Shrine sits in the center of the island, guarding this beautiful scenery.

Dedicated to the God of Mountains, the shrine provided a popular stopping point for samurai, and was traditionally accessed by a ceremonious pedestrian path called the Sando.

Once an active zone of agriculture, pilgrimage, and community, Omishima’s aging population and decreasing birth rate has contributed to the diminishing of activity on the island, resulting in shrunken orange orchards and an increasingly desolate Sando.

This report documents work produced in a design studio abroad held in Tokyo. Student projects pursued ways to revitalize Omishima through design interventions at various sites on the island, including a vacant house, a former primary school, and the now-deserted Sando.

Studio Instructors Toyo Ito, Jun Yanagisawa Teaching Associate Julia Li Students Michelle Benoit, Foteini Bouliari, Anne Chen, Beining Chen, Fengqian Chen, Yuqiao Guo, Diana Jih, Daniel Kwon, Jungwoo Lee, Matthew Wong, Andy Park, Rodrigo SolĂŠ Final Review Critics Mikiko Ishikawa, Mitsuhiro Kanada, Junko Kawakami, Astrid Klein, George Kurumado, Yusuke Obuchi, Kayoko Ota Collaborator Takenaka Corporation

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Introduction 9

Sacred Ground Toyo Ito

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Studio Abroad in Tokyo Jun Yanagisawa Projects

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Mini Omishima Foteini Bouliari Yuqiao Guo Jungwoo Lee

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Old and New Narratives Beining Chen Rodrigo SolĂŠ Matthew Wong

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Corners of the Sando Anne Chen Fengqian Chen Daniel Kwon

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Ikoi no Ie Michelle Benoit Diana Jih Andy Park

Sketch from the project “Old and New Narratives.”

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Introduction

Toyo Ito

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Sacred Ground

Sacred Ground

12 Page 10: Redevelopments in Shibuya today.

Above: Tsukiji Market.

As the 2020 Summer Olympics draw closer, many areas of Tokyo are undergoing largescale redevelopments. The city is no stranger to change: Tokyo has been in a constant state of evolution for 400 years since the 17th century, when the town was structured around Edo Castle (now the Imperial Palace). In the late 19th century, the city went through a period of rapid modernization in a movement called the Meiji Restoration, when the railroad network was introduced across Tokyo, and modernist architecture began to cover both commercial and residential areas of the city. This modernization peaked at the 1964 Tokyo Summer Olympics, but the resultant townscape was dismantled and overtaken by skyscrapers.

Tokyo was once a beautiful city based on complex topography. Intricate water and green networks were created around the Edo Castle, and houses were built along these networks.

Each house stood alone with their own gardens of varied sizes, which allowed the residential environment to integrate with nature.

As the population grew with urban centralization after World War II, social housing and private apartments were rapidly developed—yet many Japanese people still lived in individual wooden houses. Although modernization took hold, the network inherited from the Edo Period remains, and residential districts retained their distinct characteristics.

Multiple large downtown areas such as Shinjuku, Shibuya, Tokyo, and Ikebukuro exist in the city, and all are interconnected by a railway belt. These downtowns act as transportation hubs that connect with suburbs, serve millions of commuters each day, and attract countless commercial buildings spread around them. All are unique in character as they each reflect the characters of their hinterlands—businessmen from large corporations around Tokyo Station, young people in Shibuya, and crowd-attracting bright-light districts in Shinjuku.

However, the redevelopments today are destroying the character of these areas. The

resultant architecture is of such enormous scale and height that it destroys the inherited human-scale in towns, and the diversified order maintained by people ceases to exist.

As architecture tends to be verticalized, the architectural space must rely on the artificial environment, disrupting the long-established connection we had with nature. In other words, the city is becoming homogeneous at an appalling speed. In response to such homogenization, cultural anthropologist Shinichi Nakazawa expressed his concern for the “sacred ground” in Earth Diver (Kodansha, 2005) by discussing the relocation of the Tsukiji fish market.

The Tsukiji fish market was established in its current location in 1935 and has since been the beloved local “kitchen” for the residents of Tokyo. Even the general public—not to mention professional sushi chefs—visits the market for fresh fish at dusk. Intermediate wholesalers called Naka-oroshi instinctively make bids for fresh fish and seafood from around the country in a matter of seconds, with a kind of liveliness that makes the Tsukiji market a sacred ground.

Countless early-bird tourists travel from all over the world just to witness this action. Nakazawa raises the alarm that the threatened “unique locality” will be lost when the Tsukiji market moves from its current location between Ginza and the Sumida River to its new site in Toyosu, near Koto City, a ward in eastern Tokyo.

In the beginning of Earth Diver, Nakazawa defines “sacred grounds” using the following criteria: (1) A “spiritual barrier” surrounds the sacred ground, to strictly limit intrusion from the outer world. To achieve this, a nonstandard world with different principles from the outer world is created within the sacred ground.

(2) The sacred ground is a passage to nature. When one enters the sacred ground, one experiences direct contact with nature. In the outer world, especially in cities, connection with

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Toyo Ito

Part 1: To Create is to Defend

(3) Within the sacred ground, there are always people vividly participating in lively activities. These human beings keep conditions (1) and (2) up and running by constantly residing within the sacred ground—they act as constant guardians and gardeners, preventing the sacred ground from becoming a mere relic or cultural heritage that loses its true meaning and purpose.

In other words, a sacred ground within a homogeneous world controlled by the globalized economy is protected by spiritual barriers from the outside world and becomes a special place—one that inherits traditional systems. Until now, architects have promoted modernization and constantly seek novelty when creating architecture and urban spaces.

Discussions about innovating the old-fashioned society has become a major topic.

Many major cities in the world are covered with skyscrapers that symbolize a global economy. Architecture and urban space driven by this manifesto in modernism mass-produces monotonous artificial environments everywhere. Our mission now is to protect sacred grounds from the dominant and extreme modernistic world—in other words, to create is to defend. We still strive for novelty, but a “new novelty” seeks to create a new sacred ground with systems found in the tradition of sacred grounds.

Oyamazumi Shrine.

Sacred Ground

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nature is limited—the entire lifestyle is artificial, and one cannot make direct contact with nature unless it is through a complex medium. But when one enters the sacred ground, the raw nature that one cannot experience in their daily lives can be felt instantly. Shinto shrines and Buddhist temples on mountains are typical examples of sacred ground that provide such an experience.

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Omishima is an island in the Seto Inland Sea that used to be a sacred ground protected by the Oyamazumi Shrine. However, this spiritual barrier was disrupted in 2006, with the opening of the Nishiseto Expressway (often called the Shimanami Kaido), a highway connecting mainland Japan in Onomichi City with Shikoku in Imabari City.

The Seto Inland Sea is an inland sea surrounded by mainland Japan (Honshu), Shikoku, and Kyushu. Its mild weather and protection from natural disasters make this area a very calm archipelago. The east of the sea faces Osaka Bay, and once flourished as a marine route connecting with Chang’an, an ancient Chinese capital, when Nara and Kyoto were the capital cities of Japan.

Omishima is located at the center of the Seto Inland Sea, with an area of 64.5 square kilometers and a population of 6,000. The population decreased from 12,000, and continues to decrease due to a low birthrate and aging population (half the residents are over 65 years old). The central part of the island is mainly covered by forested mountains, and 13 villages are scattered along the coast. Most of the residents own small citrus farming businesses on terraced fields located halfway up the mountains.

We began to visit the island regularly after the opening of the Toyo Ito Museum of Architecture, Imabari, on the west end of Omishima in 2011. I visited with students who attend Ito Juku, my private architecture school, which was established at the same time as the museum and began participating in smallscale, community-building activities with the residents of the island. These activities did not rely on large capital, and through conversations with residents we imagine a future for the island based on these pursuits.

After a few years, our activities remained small but now cover a broader range. For example, the Sando, the traditional pilgrimage approach to Oyamazumi Shrine, became desertLocal farming.

ed after the opening of the Shimanami Kaido; in order to bring liveliness back to the area, we renovated and transformed a vacant house along the path into a “Home-for-All,” where residents can casually come together. We also performed reformation work on a lodging facility along a beach and we are creating a winery after converting some of the abandoned orchard fields into vineyards. To sustain these pursuits, we obtained funding from Japanese and local government subsidies, as well as donations from private companies and individuals. Although our activities are small in scale, the ultimate objective is larger, and we foresee the future of the island through these endeavors.

Oyamazumi Shrine is located on the west side of Omishima. The mountains are located behind the shrine, where it opens toward the sea through the Sando. The shrine, one of the oldest shrines in the area, is over 1,000 years old and protects the island and its agriculture-dominant society. Agriculture is the only active industry on the island.

Many tourists visit Oyamazumi Shrine every year. In the past, pilgrims would arrive at the port by boat and approach the shrine by walking along the Sando, a path less than a kilometer long. The ceremonious procedure of this pilgrimage retains nobility for Omishima.

However, upon the opening of the Shimanami Kaido, visitors park their buses and cars at the parking lot adjacent to the shrine and move to another location immediately after their worship. The traditional ritual has sadly declined.

The highway directly connects the once-isolated island with the outer world, thus endangering the spritual barrier that protects this sacred ground. Omishima was once a standalone “sacred island” that was protected by traditional orders of a godly spirit; this forced connection with the highway represents the intrusion of a modernized economical system into the spiritual barrier.

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Toyo Ito

Part II: A Sacred Place

Toyo Ito Museum of Architecture, Imabari.

Sacred Ground

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The Shimanami Kaido is also popular as a mecca for cyclists thanks to the beautiful scenery of the archipelago in the Seto Inland Sea. More than 200,000 cyclists pass by Omishima annually. A decision must be made whether the island should accept those cyclists or encourage them to pass by as often as possible. If the island became a tourist-dominated site similar to Naoshima, Omishima would become prosperous but lose its uniqueness as a sacred ground.

But if the island rejects visitors, it will follow a course of decline due to decreased birth rate and an aging population.

Our aim is to envision a future for the island that inherits its traditions without turning away new visitors. The procedure is not about redirecting to the past, but facing the future with its implications of modernization.

As seen in the case of Tokyo, modernism is leading the world into homogenization through the global economy. The aspired modernistic dream is now becoming a nightmare. Without rejecting advancements in technology, we should take a good look at recovering unique originalities of the diminishing locale.

Therefore, on Omishima, we need to both defend and create. The themes for the Harvard GSD Tokyo Studio were developed based on these aspects.

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Omishima seen from a distance.

Following page: Orange trees on Omishima.

Jun Yanagisawa

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Studio Abroad in Tokyo

About the GSD Abroad Studio in Tokyo

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The GSD Studio Abroad in Tokyo was held in the fall of 2017. The studio continued to focus on Omishima, a recurring theme from the previous two years. Students worked on this project for a total of three months.

Students were given the option to select one of these two prompts: 1. Sando: Design ways to revive the deserted Sando, the path to the Oyamazumi Shrine 2. Ikoi no Ie: Design new landscape strategies in conjunction with the reformation of a lodging facility, which was renovated from a primary school many years ago.

Projects from both themes were expected to consider Omishima’s natural, cultural, and climatic context. We were looking for proposals that not just design a standalone building, but also sought to seamlessly integrate with its regional environment. The projects were developed during regular esquisses held twice a week—once in Ebisu, Tokyo, and another in Yokohama.

Students attended a guidance session at the Ebisu studio upon their arrival in Tokyo, and soon after they visited Omishima without any

The students exploring Omishima.

preconception of the island. The idea was to let them feel and understand the island using their five bodily senses during their two-day stay.

Students researched and explored the island during the day and went to public bathhouses at night, after which they listened to stories about the island in a large tatami meeting room as we all exchanged glasses of sake. It felt more like a Japanese training camp than a site visit. After Omishima they visited Hida Takayama, where Japanese traditional farm villages still stand. The students learned about this traditional Japanese lifestyle, as well as the intimate relationship between architecture and nature. I believe most students could understand the beauty and abundance of Omishima, but they might have found it quite difficult to comprehend the issues at stake and the purpose of reviving the island. In order to more closely understand the problem, the students needed to learn about Japanese lifestyles from the past by experiencing traditional ways of life and relationships with natural surroundings.

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Jun Yanagisawa

Research: Field Trip to Omishima

Studio Abroad in Tokyo

26 Top: Farmer couple from Omishima.

Bottom: Wedding ceremony on the Sando.

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Jun Yanagisawa Students visiting Oyamazumi Shrine.

Title

28 Students visiting the Ken Iwata Mother and Child Museum.

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Firstname Lastname

30 Students listening to jazz at a traditional Japanese house in Hida Takayama.

We were uncertain about the reality of the issues currently facing Omishima, which became an especially challenging aspect of the studio. When we claim we want to revitalize the Sando, it is not clear whether it would really benefit the island economically, or if the residents will think our proposals necessary. I anticipated more students would choose the Ikoi no Ie landscape project, because the problem is more straightforward, with conclusions drawn much more easily in comparison to the Sando project.

Students split up to work in four groups.

Despite the complexity of the project brief, three groups chose to pursue the Sando project, and only one team chose the Ikoi no Ie landscape project. All teams had a balanced distribution of urban design, architecture, and landscape architecture students.

Students at desk critiques with Toyo Ito.

Toyo Ito and I tend to make the most out of a student’s instincts and senses. A typical project under the Japanese University Architectural Program would specify the site, program, and context so clearly that, through a simple diagram, a solution would develop almost automatically; however, we did not want to be so prescriptive in our methods.

Because the students came from foreign countries and brought fresh perspectives, we looked forward to dynamic yet objective approaches from their external points of view.

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Jun Yanagisawa

Project: Designing on Omishima

Team 3 Anne Chen, Fengqian Chen, Daniel Kwon

Team 1 proposed to bring characteristics from the 13 villages to congregate along the Sando by creating pavilions that have cultural, commercial, and touristic purposes, allowing the Sando to represent the whole of Omishima.

Clusters of pavilions representing three major trades—agriculture, culture, and crafts—intend to provide new environments for both the Sando and its surrounding regional areas.

Team 3 was interested in the T-shaped corners (or tsuji in Japanese), a condition frequently found along the Sando. They proposed public programs and spaces where local children and the elderly community can spontaneously meet.

Mobile kiosks paired with multiple tsuji create flexible spaces for activities and events that reflect each corner’s regionality, and provide a sense of place for children and adults to enjoy.

Team 2 Beining Chen, Rodrigo Solé, Matthew Wong

Team 4 Michelle Benoit, Diana Jih, Andy Park

Team 2 focused on the revival of the forgotten ceremonious route from the Miyaura Port to the Oyamazumi Shrine, with proposals of new interventions that discover lost history of the Sando, creating meaningful moments that embody a nostalgic future.

This attempt to bring back the ceremonious pathway overlaps memories of the Sando with the future, unfolding the true essence of Omishima in dimensions of space and time.

Each member had a different approach, all of which were led by a mutual theme—the space in-between—and driven by traditional Japanese elements, such as engawa, a veranda-like porch.

Studio Abroad in Tokyo

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Team 1 Foteini Bouliari, Yuqiao Guo, Jungwoo Lee

Final reviews.

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Projects

38 The 13 villages on Omishima each have their own distinct identities.

Foteini Bouliari Yuqiao Guo Jungwoo Lee

The 13 villages on Omishima have their own distinct customs, traditions, and cultural identities. The concept of “Mini Omishima� unwraps these identities and creates pavilions dedicated to each on the Sando, the approach to the Oyamazumi shrine.

The Sando transforms into a showcase of Omishima that highlights agricultural production, culture, and the traditions of making. The 13 village pavilions are laid out on or near the Sando, either in retrofitted vacant structures or in new small structures.

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Mini Omishima

Mini Omishima

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Foteini Bouliari, Yuqiao Guo, Jungwoo Lee Opposite page: Model showing the Sando revitalized.

Above: Conceptual sketch.

Map of the Sando revitalized around three themes: agriculture, culture, and craft.

Mini Omishima

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Omishima farmers’ association has their monthly gathering

Activity under the orange grove

Approach from the sando

Bottom left: Visitors and locals mingle.

Top right: Monthly farmers gathering.

Agriculture: Vacant lots used as fields.

Agriculture Visitors and local residents grow and Vacant lots used as productive fields harvest oranges from the proposed orange tree farm. These oranges can be processed into products to be sold at the edge of the street.

Sando

45 The first cluster represents the regional agricultural production of Omishima.

Mini Omishima

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Residence for artist i-turns

Outdoor theater

Residence for artist i-turns

Agriculture Vacant lots used as productive fields

Bottom left: Residence for artists.

Top right: Mural painting workshop.

Culture: Linear public space for cultural Culture activities. Cultural events are closely related to local seasonality. Festive Sando as linear public space for cultural activities activities, local delicacies, and decoration along the Sando attract visitors to explore.

Cr

Larger scale open events rela

47 The second cluster represents the regional cultural production of Omishima.

Mini Omishima

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Boat - making workshop

Crafts market

Bottom left: Work spaces for craftsmen.

Top right: Boat-making workshop.

Crafts: Larger-scale open spaces used for the making, display, and sale of crafts. Every year, there will be several Omishima craft fairs that offer a place for local residents to sell and display their handmade goods, ranging from tools and clothing to porcelain and wild boar meat.

The third cluster provides a space for the display and exchange of crafts.

Mini Omishima

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The project then addressed four villages—Inokuchi, Amazaki, Seto, and Kuchisubo—and proposed corresponding interventions along the Sando, each tailored to celebrate the character of their respective village.

The first village is Inokuchi, where the only citrus factory on Omishima was once located. The proposal for Inokuchi is the conversion of an abandoned clinic to a citrus factory for the production of Omishima citrus juice. The factory is open for visitors to experience the process of juice-making and taste the product while learning about the history of the village.

A stamp for Inokuchi village.

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Foteini Bouliari, Yuqiao Guo, Jungwoo Lee Top: Location of intervention along the Sando.

Bottom: Floor plan of intervention.

Mini Omishima

52 Top: Section view.

Bottom: Perspective view.

Close-up section views.

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Foteini Bouliari, Yuqiao Guo, Jungwoo Lee

Mini Omishima

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The second village is Amazaki, whose history dates back to the seventh century, when a navy fortress was erected on a small island across from the village. The proposal for Amazaki is a sequence through history to the present day, including an exhibition telling the story of the castle, an interactive game with stones, and finally a small cafe featuring an experience of local produce, including the Hassaku orange, special variety of citrus native to Amazaki.

A stamp for Amazaki village.

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Foteini Bouliari, Yuqiao Guo, Jungwoo Lee Top: Location of intervention along the Sando.

Bottom: Floor plan of intervention.

Mini Omishima

56 Top: Section view.

Bottom: Perspective view.

Close-up section views.

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Foteini Bouliari, Yuqiao Guo, Jungwoo Lee

Mini Omishima

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The third village is Seto. Vineyards and wine-making have recently been introduced to the island of Omishima, whose topography and climate are ideal for this type of production, and Seto is the location of its winery. The project consists of programs related to wine, as well as the history of this village —which formerly hosted the Oyamazuni Shrine prior to its relocation to Miyaura.

A stamp for Seto village.

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Foteini Bouliari, Yuqiao Guo, Jungwoo Lee Top: Location of intervention along the Sando.

Bottom: Floor plan of intervention.

Mini Omishima

60 Top: Section view.

Bottom: Perspective view.

Close-up section views.

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Foteini Bouliari, Yuqiao Guo, Jungwoo Lee

Mini Omishima

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Kuchisubo, the fourth village, has a topography and tradition that allow for a scenery of terraced rice fields from the mountain slope to the sea. The project for Kuchisubo is a small rice plantation that surrounds three huts. The small huts contain a resting and interaction space for farmers, information center for visitors, and storage for agricultural tools and rice production.

A stamp for Kuchisubo village.

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Foteini Bouliari, Yuqiao Guo, Jungwoo Lee Top: Location of intervention along the Sando.

Bottom: Floor plan of intervention.

Mini Omishima

64 Top: Section view.

Bottom: Perspective view.

Close-up section views.

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Foteini Bouliari, Yuqiao Guo, Jungwoo Lee

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Beining Chen Rodrigo SolĂŠ Matthew Wong

“Old and New Narratives� addresses the urgency of steep population decline in Omishima. By engaging in direct dialogue between Japanese traditions and contemporary lifestyles, the exhibition seeks to bridge the gaps created by modern infrastructure and communication by identifying seven moments with the potential of developing a sustainable lifestyle. These moments may begin to tie the past and future narratives to reconnect with the history and traditions of an island once thriving.

Fascinated by the traditional Japanese methods of painting during the Edo period, this project signifies an attempt to bridge the past with the future and inspire modern culture with a hint of nostalgia.

Conceptual drawing.

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Old and New Narratives

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Beining Chen, Rodrigo Sole, Matthew Wong Opposite page: Line drawing of a new entrance gate to the Sando.

Above: Plant samples from Omishima.

Approach

Landing

Top: Seven moments or “stamps� for the approach to Oyamazumi Shrine along the Sando.

Interlude

Middle: Full birds-eye plan of the Sando, Miyaura, and Oyamazumi Shrine.

Cultivation

71 Storytelling

Bottom: Intervention map overlay.

Void

Arrival

Old and New Narratives

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Approach: Embracing Seto Inland Sea

Top: View from a boat on the water approaching the old port toward the Sando.

Bottom: Proposed renovation of the existing port.

Following page: Close-up view.

Top view of existing port

The design of a port that “reaches out� into the sea and embraces the surrounding wind and sunlight.

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Old and New Narratives

Landing: Reconnecting Sando to Port of Miyaura

Top: View from one side of the landing.

Bottom: The landing is reforested, reconnecting the port with the original entrance to the Sando.

Following page: Close-up view. The rows of tall pine trees reorient the path’s direction.

Top view of existing landing

The design of a landing through reforesting.

Old and New Narratives

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Interlude: Reforesting the Historic Sando

Top: Close-up view of the three nomads from the past and the hidden entrance into the forest that leads to an onsen (bathhouse).

Bottom: View through Torii gate onto the original Sando entrance.

Following page: Close-up view of communal activities at the entrance.

The design of an interlude through a revitalized path.

Top view of existing landing

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Old and New Narratives

Cultivation: 30 Orange Species of Omishima

Above: Orange cultivation chain.

Opposite page: Close-up view of orange cultivation.

Following spread: The design of the orange cultivation chain.

Old and New Narratives

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Storytelling: Stone Garden

Top: View from the Sando.

Bottom: Elevation view.

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Beiming Chen, Rodrigo SolĂŠ, Matthew Wong Scenario depicting activities inside the stone garden. This tells the story of the beginning of civilization with the invention of fire and celebration of stone.

Old and New Narratives

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Storytelling: Workshop

Top: View from the Sando.

Bottom: Close-up view. The back gate to a past time.

Following page: Scenario depicting activities inside the carpentry workshop for children. This tells the story of local craftmanship in woodworking.

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Beiming Chen, Rodrigo SolĂŠ, Matthew Wong

Old and New Narratives

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Storytelling: Library

Top: View from the Sando.

Bottom: Close-up view. The library and vegetable garden are connected by an engawa porch.

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Beiming Chen, Rodrigo SolÊ, Matthew Wong Scenario depicting activities inside the children’s library. Learning happens simultaneously through verbal story-telling, reading, and a hands-on approach.

Old and New Narratives

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Void: Retrofitting Sando

Top: View from the Sando bridge. The abandoned house is overgrown with wild plants and is barely visible.

Bottom: The entrance captures the attention and curiosity of passersby, urging them to discover this hidden treasure with unexpected interior depth.

Scenario depicting activities inside the retrofitted building courtyard.

Old and New Narratives

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Arrival: Oyamazumi Shrine

Top: View from the Sando toward the entrance gate of Oyamazumi Shrine.

Bottom: Entering the vast courtyard in front of Oyamazumi Shrine.

Following page: Scenario depicting activities inside the courtyard of Oyamazumi Shrine.

Old and New Narratives

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Departure: Oyamazumi Shrine

Top: View from the gate of Oyamazumi Shrine

Bottom: Return to the Sando at dawn.

The Sando viewed through the gate.

Closing scenario of the Sando.

Closing scenario of the port.

Final Stop-Motion Film

Film stills from the final animation.

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Old and New Narratives

Postcards

These postcards were distributed as “souvenirs� from Omishima at the final review.

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Beining Chen, Rodrigo Sole, Matthew Wong

Anne Chen Fengqian Chen Daniel Kwon

“Corners of the Sando� attempts to revitalize the Sando on Omishima by increasing opportunities for interaction between the old and young. The proposal focuses on specific intersections between the Sando and secondary roads, which provide the possibility of connectivity between different groups and various existing communities and amenities.

This project functions at the pedestrian scale, but does so with minimal intervention in the existing sensitive context by using movable carts to introduce more programs and events in the village. The scale and flexibility of the movable carts provide incentive for collaboration between the locals and tourists. By inscribing a series of carts rather than that of a singular intervention, the project takes a critical stance on redefining authorship and hopes to challenge future notions of urban design.

Collaged scenario of the revitalized Sando.

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Corners of the Sando

Corners of the Sando

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Anne Chen, Fengqian Chen, Daniel Kwon Previous page: Interventions along the Sando.

Above: Types of stalls.

Corners of the Sando

112 Top: Intersection opportunities for the old and young.

Bottom: Stall as catalyst.

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Anne Chen, Fengqian Chen, Daniel Kwon Top: Intersection opportunities for the old and young.

Bottom: Stall as catalyst.

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Corners of the Sando

After School Stall

Top: Existing site.

Bottom, left to right: After-school stall scenario and model photo.

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Anne Chen, Fengqian Chen, Daniel Kwon Top: Collage model depicting after-school scenario.

Bottom: Plan view of intervention.

Corners of the Sando

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Calligraphy Stall

Top: Existing site.

Bottom, left to right: Framing the surrounding landscape and model photo.

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Anne Chen, Fengqian Chen, Daniel Kwon Top: Collage model depicting people learning calligraphy.

Bottom: Plan view of intervention.

Corners of the Sando

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Weekly Clinic and Movie Night Stall

Top: Existing site.

Bottom, left to right: Outdoor movie screening and model showing visitors at the clinic.

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Anne Chen, Fengqian Chen, Daniel Kwon Top: Collage model depicting people watching movies and going to the clinic.

Bottom: Plan view of intervention.

Corners of the Sando

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Performance and Bar Stall

Top: Existing site.

Bottom left: A movable bar.

Bottom right: Visitors enjoy performances at dawn.

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Anne Chen, Fengqian Chen, Daniel Kwon Top: Collage model depicting people visiting outdoor theater performance.

Bottom: Plan view of intervention.

Corners of the Sando

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Meditation and Bicycle Stall

Top: Existing site.

Bottom: Scenario depicting cyclists enjoying services provided by the stalls.

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Anne Chen, Fengqian Chen, Daniel Kwon Top: Collage model depicting cyclists taking a break from riding to relax.

Bottom: Plan view of intervention.

Corners of the Sando

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Book Stall

Top: Existing site.

Bottom left: The book stall at the entrance of the Sando.

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Anne Chen, Fengqian Chen, Daniel Kwon Top: Collage model depicting people reading a book while waiting for the bus.

Bottom: Plan view of intervention.

Corners of the Sando

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Home for All

Top: Existing site, a “Home-for-All” renovated by Ito Juku.

Bottom left: Outdoor exhibition space.

Bottom right: Outdoor night exhibition.

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Anne Chen, Fengqian Chen, Daniel Kwon Top: Collage model depicting people on the street in front of the Home-for-All.

Bottom: Plan view of intervention.

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Ikoi No Ie

Conceptual collage.

Michelle Benoit Diana Jih Andy Park

129 Conceptual collage.

Michelle Benoit

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Ikoi no Ie

Ikoi no Ie 1

Top: Plant palette studies.

Bottom: Tree species examples.

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Michelle Benoit, Diana Jih, Andy Park Top: Plan.

Bottom: South and west elevations.

Diana Jih

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Ikoi no Ie

Garden For All Seasons

Top: Conceptual collage.

Bottom: Detail elevation.

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Michelle Benoit, Diana Jih, Andy Park Top: Plan.

Bottom: Section through BBQ hut.

Andy Park

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Ikoi no Ie

Citrus Bath

Top: Site plan.

Top: Plan.

Bottom: Section.

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Michelle Benoit, Diana Jih, Andy Park

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Contributors

Toyo Ito Toyo Ito was born in 1941. After graduating from the University of Tokyo in 1965, he worked for Kiyonori Kikutake until 1969. In 1971, he founded his own office Urban Robot (URBOT), which was renamed Toyo Ito & Associates, Architects, in 1979. He has been working on numerous private, public, and institutional projects both in Japan and overseas, many of which have been awarded national and international honors. This includes the Sendai Mediatheque, the Tama Art University Library (Hachioji campus), National Taiwan University, College of Social Sciences (Taiwan R.O.C.), “Minna no Mori” Gifu Media Cosmos, and National Taichung Theater (Taiwan R.O.C.), among others.

He has been energetically dedicated to reconstruction activity after the Great East Japan

Earthquake in 2011. He initiated the project, “Home-for-All,” a communal hut for people affected by tsunami, to gather and communicate with one another. Sixteen “Homes-for-All” have been completed as of November 2017.

He established a small private architectural school, Ito Juku, in 2011 to foster young and talented architects. The programs include an exclusive course for Ito Juku students and an architecture school for children, which is the first attempt of its kind in Japan. He has also been actively involved in an annual Harvard GSD Studio Abroad program since 2012.

Through these academic activities, he seeks to network the relationship between architecture and human beings as well as between architecture and nature in a comprehensive manner.

ment to engage in revitalization activities on Omishima. He was also actively involved in the Harvard GSD Studio Abroad program in 2016 and 2017. In addition, he is a member of Japan Association of Architects, which allows architectural activities to engage with society.

The name “Contemporaries” signifies a team with people of similar age, established to share the joy of making and activities with each other, which is then passed on to future generations to come.

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Jun Yanagisawa Jun Yanagisawa was born in Tokyo in 1964, and graduated from the Tokyo Institute of Technology Graduate School. After working for Toyo Ito & Associates, Architects, from 1992 to 2000, he established Contemporaries, his own design office.

His recent projects include a library, a community center and a hospital in Kumamoto, an ossuary in Yokohama, a children’s garden in Onomichi, and in 2018 he won a competition to design an elementary school in Yokohama.

He currently teaches at Kanto Gakuin University and is based in Yokohama.

Yanagisawa has been a lecturer at Ito Juku since 2015. Together with Toyo Ito he proposed a variety of projects, including workshops for local residents and high school students, as part of their shared commit-

Colophon

Transforming Omishima Instructors Toyo Ito, Jun Yanagisawa Report Design and Editor Beining Chen A Harvard University Graduate School of Design Publication Dean and Alexander and Victoria Wiley Professor of Design Mohsen Mostafavi Assistant Dean and Director for Communications and Public Programs Ken Stewart Editor in Chief Jennifer Sigler Associate Editor Marielle Suba Production Manager Meghan Sandberg

Image Credits Page 8: Beining Chen Page 10, 12: Eikoh Tanaka Page 16: Shuso Yamada Page 20-21, 22: Yusuke Nishibe Page 26 top: Ayumi Yoshino Page 26 bottom: Manami Takahashi Page 36: Beining Chen and Matthew Wong Page 67: Beining Chen Page 69: Matthew Wong Page 128: Michelle Benoit Page 129: Diana Jih The editors have attempted to acknowledge all sources of images used and apologize for any errors or omissions.

Harvard University Graduate School of Design 48 Quincy Street Cambridge, MA 02138

Series design by Laura Grey and Zak Jensen ISBN 978-1-934510-70-4 Copyright Š 2019 President and Fellows of Harvard College. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form without prior written permission from the Harvard University Graduate School of Design.

publications@gsd.harvard.edu gsd.harvard.edu

Studio Report Fall 2017

Harvard GSD Department of Architecture

Students Michelle Benoit, Foteini Bouliari, Anne Chen, Beining Chen, Fengqian Chen, Yuqiao Guo, Diana Jih, Daniel Kwon, Jungwoo Lee, Andy Park, Rodrigo SolĂŠ, Matthew Wong

ISBN 978-1-934510-70-4

9 781934 510704