TOYO ITO: ZA KOEJI THEATER, TOKYO

VERSIÓN EN ESPAÑOL

One of the newest creations by the award-winning Japanese architect Toyo Ito, the Koenji Za Public Theater, completed in 2009, is an irregular black metal block that appears as an alien in the middle of a suburb in Tokyo. Its design reminded me of Tadao Ando’s HHstyle.com / CASA .


LOCATION

Za Koenji is located in the Suginami City, within the metropolitan area of Japan's capital, near Koenji station in a residential area of relatively low density. It is a theater for contemporary performing arts, in charge of the Creative Arts Network (CTN). The theater produces, presents and promotes a series of cultural activities for the community of Suginami.

View location in Google Maps (the satellite photo is not updated)

FACADE

The steel-coated structure has 6 levels (three of them underground to comply with regulations of height), and acquired a peculiar shape on its roof, similar to a circus tent.

"I tried to create an impression of a closed tent, or cabin, or a play house."

Toyo Ito

Externally, the building takes the form of tent, which is actually a multiple catenary, the product of various geometric operations. The roof is a 12 mm metal sheet, supported on a frame of steel columns and beams of 12 x 25 cm.

Photos courtesy of Iwan Baan

The facade receeds from the profile of the street to create a reception area by way of an atrium and is presided by a marquee, which helps to provide the black mole of pedestrian scale.

This is a "humorous" detail the architect, a door leading to nothing, located on the facade. I wonder if it would have some philosophical meaning

The circular windows around the building that seem to be placed arbitrarily, during daytime hours are not so noticeable due to the visual impact of the black steel.

Photos courtesy of brando Shigeta and nordic nomad

A different experience occurs in the evening, when the light spots acquire a leading role in the facade.

Foto cortesía de Lightdesign Photo courtesy of Lightdesign

THE INTERIOR

This is a relatively small building, which houses two auditoriums for theater performances. The largest of these, with an area of 440 m2 has 230 seats and a large stage.



The other smaller auditorium, called the Civic Hall, has an area of 330 m2, but can accommodate up to 300 spectators, because it has a smaller stage.

Fotos cortesía de Lightdesign Photos courtesy of Lightdesign

Hay además un cuarto para ensayos, de 160 m2, dedicado también a la danza de Awa odori , muy popular en el área de Koeji. There is also a room for testing, 160 m2, also devoted to the dance of Awa odori , very popular in the area of Koeji.


Due to the restrictions of the function both audiences are rational and perfectly inscribed within a box. In contrast, the architect has used his innovative imagination in the development of the surrounding areas to theaters, like the reception hall, stairs, exhibition spaces and a café.


Estos pequeños espacios, recubiertos una envolvente roja con círculos blancos luminosos, adquiere, al igual que el exterior, un carácter escenográfico, evocando a la función que acompañan. These small spaces, wrapped in a red surface with white circles of light, acquires a scenic character, evoking the function that are serving.


Upon entering, the bright circular spot theme appears not only on the walls, but projected on the floor, recalling the effect of a spotlight on the stage.

Photos courtesy of Lightdesign

Photos courtesy of Brandon Shigeta

After passing the reception we found the stairs, reminiscent of those of Art Nouveau style.


The staircase is worked like a colorful ribbon wrapped around a central space of curve geometry and invites visitors to tour the different levels of the building, even the lower ones that are under ground.


The so-called Café Henri Fabre, after the creator of the first seaplane in history, is probably the area where more emphasis is given to the decoration by using these circular lights, which are located both in the walls and the warped ceilings. It also functions as an expansion related to the adjacent auditory.


Additionally, the building has areas of exhibition, containing some samples of pop art.


SEE ALSO

- OTHER WORKS BY TOYO ITO

• Egg of Winds (Tokyo)
• Sendai Mediatheque
• Tower of Winds (Yokohama)

- THEATRES AND VENUES

• Kyoto Concert Hall, Japón (Arata Isozaki)
• Sydney Opera House (Jorn Utzon)
  
  
  

TOYO ITO: SENDAI MEDIATHEQUE

VERSIÓN EN ESPAÑOL

Sendai, located 300 km north of Tokyo and known as the "City of Trees”, is a city of one million inhabitants. Nearby is the Matsushima Bay, one of Japan’s three most famous natural sceneries, along with the Itsukushima Shrine in the island of Miyajima and Amanohashidate .
Some small temples and a castle are witness of its history, but the reason why Sendai has achieved international renown is because of its Mediateque (2001), the most representative work of the architect Toyo Ito .

CONCEPT

The general concept, evident already from the competition entry, was the free public accessibility. Located in an area of 50 x 50 m, the multimedia library should contain several features: library, internet booths, areas for watching DVDs, galleries, cafes, etc.

Sendai Mediatheque is located in front of a grove and surrounded on three sides by streets.

See location on Google Maps


Ito's proposal opted for transparency. Since the plot is located in front of a large grove, it affords broad vistas towards the boulevard, while shape of the trees is used in the design of the structure.

Conceptual sketches and model. Source 2g Magazine

The space and light flow frankly between the different levels of the building.

FORMAL DESIGN

The design is based on three basic elements:

a) Platforms: there are 7 of them, there are the support where the functions are carried out. They are 80 cm. thick. It is actually a grid of metallic beams welded to two metallic plates, similar to those used in shipbuilding. This metal grill can also be seen on the roof, crowning the composition of the building.


b) Tubes: There are 13 bundles of steel tubular structures covered in glass, resembling a twisted organic structure like a weed. They cross and support the platforms, extending beyond the ceiling.


Freely dispersed in the building, they vary in shape, diameter, inclination and dimension, while providing light to the interior. The larger tube has a vertical circulation that connects the different levels of the library.


Despite its fragile and transparent appearance, these structures provide flexibility, strength and horizontal and vertical stability to the building in an area of high seismic activity and constant typhoons.

c) The skin: it is a transparent membrane that allows fluid visual communication between interior and exterior, and at times the boundary between the two seems to vanish.


However, Ito proposed different facades according to the character of the surrounding environment they face. For example, the main façade, located on the south side facing the boulevard, is a double layer of glass (very useful in the winter months of strong winds ... from experience I can say that the Mediatheque was a refuge Sendai freezing winter), the outer extends slightly and increases the effect of lightness of the building.


The west side facade, which faces another plot, is opaque, coated with a metal frame that reveals the emergency stairs. The north and east facades, which face neighborhood streets, have different finishes on each floor: glass, polycarbonate and aluminum.


PROGRAM

The first floor, called Open Plaza, contains the reception, a cafe and a store of books and magazines. It is totally extroverted toward the street.

First Floor level, courtesy of Sendai Mediatheque.

The second level is the children's library, internet and administration. It is a very open space, defined only by the furniture. A very interesting aspect is that the separation between the public reading area and the private administration is simply a translucent curtain, resembling a floating wall.

Second level, courtesy of Sendai Mediatheque.

En el tercer nivel y cuarto nivel (el cuarto es en realidad una mezaninne) se encuentran el área de préstamos de libros y salas de lectura. At the third level and fourth level (the fourth is actually a mezzanine) are the area of loans of books and reading rooms.


In the fifth and sixth floors exhibition galleries are located, used by the citizens of Sendai. Here, mobile rectilinear panels can be accommodated to the needs of the exhibition, in a clear reference to the sliding doors of Japanese architecture .

Fifth and sixth floor level, courtesy of Sendai Mediatheque.

On the seventh floor there is a cinema and conference rooms, which are wrapped in a matte glazed wall (Ito calls it a "membrane") of curvilinear forms, that is located in the middle of space.


Here are also an area for listening tapes and DVDs and areas of assembly. The furniture is also curvilinear and organic.

Seventh level, courtesy of Sendai Mediatheque.

following video shows the extraordinary spatial fluidity to raise the floors by elevator.


MEANING

The Sendai Mediatheque project received the Royal Gold Medal in 2006 by the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA), and may be celebrated from various aspects: its structural innovation, functional versatility, its symbolic meaning for the residents of Sendai. But perhaps what has made this building is a milestone is that has tried to capture on architecture the ethereal, fluent, multidirectional and virtual nature of the computer world that characterizes our time.

SEE ALSO

- OTHER WORKS BY TOYO ITO

• Egg of the winds (Tokyo)
• Tower of the winds (Yokohama)