Through Palazzo

The Ebisu site has interesting points to concern in order to design a good Palazzo in this area. The road in front of the Ebisu site connects Shibuya; the most crowded and fashionable area in Tokyo, and Ebisu; calm and luxurious area, together. Moreover, the characteristics of the site are unique. It is long and narrow. It is also located along the Shibuya river.; the old river that has long history behind it.
With these interesting site conditions we discovered, our design approaches for the Palazzo in Ebisu are; to create relationship between users and pedestrians, and architecture together, and to create good environments for urban contexts (likes, public open spaces, gardens, etc. )

Nippori / Station as Threshold

Nippori Station is where the Narita line transfers to the Yamanote line. It is the first station where foreign tourists arrive, a number that has increased recently. Many foreigners move to the transfer trains while dragging their suitcases. Yanaka Ginza is located to the west side of the station. It is a popular sightseeing spot where old-fashioned townscapes are surprisingly well-preserved as they escaped war damage and the large scale development in the city center. Nippori station holds 14 train tracks. It consisted of 2 bridge outsite of ticket gate that connects west-east side of the station, and 3 bridges that connects several platform inside the ticket gates. The bridge that connects the east and west side of the city located in the north is a famous spot called the “Train Museum”, crowded with people who come to watch many kinds of trains pass on the track. In the future, where the ticket gate will be touchless and gateless, there will be nothing to separate these two bridges from each other. Exploring the use of local potential for the tourism in future, what would bridge of Nippori station will look like? The two types of bridges are connected so that people can come and go in between and a luggage service is set up on the Keisei line side. This will create an opportunity for the foreign tourists to use their spare time enjoyably while waiting for flights at Narita airport, or for the of hotel check-in, by being able to walk in Yanaka Ginza. A middle floor between the platform and the bridge is installed to develop a train museum. For the local people this intervention will become the base of spreading the culture of Yanaka Ginza to foreign countries. In the flow of local people and foreign visitors passing by each other, the fusion space of two kinds of bridges will be the meeting point where cultures form distant foreign countries meet each other. This is symbolized by the roof structure that alternately straddles the two bridges.

Commercycle Tokyo

The bike has permeated the city. No longer just a simple transportation device, the bike has encroached upon and infiltrated many aspects of city life. We view the bike through a whole new lens: fashionable object, accessory, lifestyle tool. How can we engage this new bilking conception in a meaningful way? Commercycle Tokyo attempts to fuse once disparate fields: cycling should merge with a more rounded lifestyle approach, to form a new architecture for bicycle. Bikes should no longer be relegated to lanes and roads. Bikes architecture will engage the bicycle with the city.