The rectangular openings allow sunlight and rain to enter this semi-covered multi-purpose square designed by Junya Ishigami for the Kanagawa Institute of Technology in Japan. The square is located right in a corner of the campus next to a building also designed by the Japanese designer.
In a text on the multipurpose project, Ishigami explained that the campus lacked spaces for leisure moments where students could meet and sit on the ground to chat, have lunch or take a nap. The square is conceived as a heterogeneous space with various potential uses, but it is primarily a place of spontaneous social interaction. It can also be used to host temporary stalls during campus festivals or to showcase student projects.
When you emphasize how to use it, you focus on building a program. This project emphasizes more on the experience of the space rather than the ways to use it.
Junya Ishigami
Semi-external “multipurpose” naturalness
Existing outdoor spaces on campus were mostly surrounded by buildings, clearly artificial environments lacking the changing qualities of natural spaces. The plaza is intended to complement the campus architecture by creating the feeling of a landscape where changes in the seasons and weather “outside” influence the physical experience “in” the space.
In pursuing the semi-outdoor nature of this square, this place should maintain half of the features of the existing environment and integrate the other half with architectural elements. This creates a “new exterior”
Junya Ishigami
A new horizon
The multi-purpose plaza is designed to evoke a landscape that extends towards a horizon line. In this case, it is the point where the floor curves to meet the gently arching roof. Windows set into the cool white walls offer glimpses of the sheltered interior from the outside.
The roof is made up of a single steel surface 1.2 centimeters thick, supported by four external walls 25 centimeters thick. A network of “ribs” that function as compression rings helps reduce the tension exerted on the walls.
The maximum span of the roof is approximately 90 meters and the floor below gradually gains five meters in height from one end to the other. The height (so to speak) of the roof rises from around 2,2 meters to a maximum of 2,8 metres, in line with typical Japanese living standards.
A multipurpose window to the outside. Or on the inside
A horizon, I was saying, with many windows. 59 rectangular openings were cut into the roof to allow daylight into the multi-purpose space. On days when the sun is shining, well-defined patches of light form on the floor, while on cloudy days a blurrier pattern of light and shadow is created. The spatial irregularity of light shadows changes with time and atmospheric conditions.
Wind and rain can also enter the building through the openings, improving the connection with the outside. On rainy days, it is possible to see “rain columns” entering the space. The ground of the multi-purpose plaza is covered with permeable asphalt that allows water to instantly absorb and flow into the ground below, keeping the plaza dry and free of puddles.
Ishigami wanted users to feel comfortable sitting on the ground within the plaza, encouraging them to spend time appreciating the changing elements and creating a greater sense of connection with the building.
People can sit freely on the sloping floor, stand or even lie down inside the building. On a comfortable hill-like slope that almost feels like a huge bed, the body and the environment are integrated as a backdrop.
Junya Ishigami
