BDES1020 CONTINUOUS CITY <Athira, Azmi>

Abstract

The site I got is J13, located in Asakusa, Tokyo Japan. As the site is located at the waterside, I've decided to take advantage of it by designing a building that utilises both water and land. This theatre was inspired by Tadao Ando's ' theatre on the water' concept design in Hokkaido, Japan. I chose to design in an organic shape to create a new dimension to the city which is obviously too geometric and condensed. Besides, the curved and rounded corners express continuity of surface, compactness of volume and softness of forms. This theatre comprises of a main building and, an exterior auditorium and stage which is located on the water. In the main building, there is a restaurant on the ground floor, while on the first floor, there is an interior auditorium, conference & meeting rooms. There is also basement, which will be the primary space for actors and crews. The lobby on the ground floor is designed so that visitors entering the building can see directly through to the other side of the building towards the waterside where the stage and seats are located. This will give them a sense of direction that will directs them to those main areas. The exterior auditorium (which is on the water) comprises of 3 levels of seatings and a walkway with glass walls. On the other hand, the stage, is accessible only by performers and crews through the basement via stairs and the movable stage segment. The Balsa-wood structure model I built is cladded with only two materials; wire mesh and tracing paper. This expresses the simplicity of the design, and highlight the forms of the building. Besides, the cladding also creates an interesting lighting effects at nights. Thus, the building is named 'Daiki' which means to shine like bright lights in Japanese.