Higashi Azabu Office Building

In Architecture

Posted: Aug 7th, 2009 / Last Edited: Jun 1st, 2010 Print

Description

The Higashi Azabu Building is a product of its context, yet it simultaneously detaches itself from these forces by seeking to transform and perceptually extend the site. The thinness of the building envelope generated by the site is exaggerated by a splintering strategy which generates the formal language of the building. The perception of the resultant configuration is one of a series of ambiguous boundaries and forms the basis of the functional organization. A shear in the cross-section of the building, which reiterates the longitudinal layering, produces an entry and organizes the vertical movement systems with their associated volumes. An isolated void that constitutes the core framework for this proposal reflects the site condition and our interest in its lack of resolution. In this multi-use structure, these ambiguities are expressed through the various components of the building. The vertical upper part of the building functions as one of the datums and is defined by a concrete wall; a wall connoting weight which accentuates its detached status. This wall is punctured by regular openings which appear empty by virtue of the skyward tilted glazing. A series of delineated vertical planes run parallel to the wall, articulating ideas of spatial division, accretion, time, addition, the comprehension of process, and the continuity of transformation. An analogy is drawn between the growth of the city, with its inherent additive nature, and the delineated layers of the buildings. Each layer, collapsed and condensed, has its own urban identity reflecting the nature of the thin site and the role of the work in collecting and recording the city beyond.
The Higashi Azabu Building is a product of its context, yet it simultaneously detaches itself from these forces by seeking to transform and perceptually extend the site. The thinness of the building envelope generated by the site is exaggerated by a splintering strategy which generates the formal language of the building. The perception of the resultant configuration is one of a series of ambiguous boundaries and forms the basis of the functional organization. A shear in the cross-section of the building, which reiterates the longitudinal layering, produces an entry and organizes the vertical movement systems with their associated volumes. An isolated void that constitutes the core framework for this proposal reflects the site condition and our interest in its lack of resolution. In this multi-use structure, these ambiguities are expressed through the various components of the building. The vertical upper part of the building functions as one of the datums and is defined by a concrete wall; a wall connoting weight which accentuates its detached status. This wall is punctured by regular openings which appear empty by virtue of the skyward tilted glazing. A series of delineated vertical planes run parallel to the wall, articulating ideas of spatial division, accretion, time, addition, the comprehension of process, and the continuity of transformation. An analogy is drawn between the growth of the city, with its inherent additive nature, and the delineated layers of the buildings. Each layer, collapsed and condensed, has its own urban identity reflecting the nature of the thin site and the role of the work in collecting and recording the city beyond.
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