Kanagawa Institute of Technology Plaza, Junya Ishigami + Associates (2020)
The semi exterior structure in the institute encourages students to enjoy the outdoors while still being in an interior-like space, without the interior restrictions. Ishigami aimed to have a versatility characteristic when designing this plaza, where the purpose of the plaza was ambigious, and it was up to the students to use the space however they wished.
“The process of passing time becomes the subject”.
Junya Ishigami
The weather becomes a part of the media in the project, with the sunlight shifting through the gaps above, as it imitated the sun moving through the clouds. Accordingly, the space transforms depending on the time and weather. On rainy days, the rain-flow comes in through the gaps, forming water pillars and adding an element of sound to the experience.
Parc de la Villette, Bernard Tsuchumi (1987)
Tsuchimi designed the Parc de la Villette as a place filled with culture, reconfiguration, and discovery. Tsuchimi did not aim for the park to go backwards into the picturesque style, but rather designed towards the future, in the sense of leaving it up to the visitors to have the freedom to use the park as exploration. The folly is a structure that supports this concept, having no real designated purpose for its existence, other than leaving it up to the visitors decision to address these follies.
The park is one of the biggest parks in France, and is often criticised for its size, making it difficult for humans to completely relax. However, it is reminiscent of walking in the urban, where it is large and overwhelming for an individual.
“Parc de la Villette seems to be a critical manifestation of urban life and activity where space, event, and movement all converge into a larger system.”
AUT Spatial Design 