SMALL STACKING CITY

This is a plan for a photographer’s atelier and studio + shop in Kuramae, Tokyo.
The Kuramae area began in the Edo period (1603-1867), when a government rice warehouse was located along the Sumida River and a wholesale district for tableware and other goods developed.
After the Great Kanto Earthquake, many doll makers moved to the area and toy wholesalers developed, and the area has long been steeped in a culture of craftsmanship and is now home to artisans and creators in various fields.
In this project, the aim was to create a three-dimensional, small-city-like architecture that gently merges the ateliers, studios and shops of these different programmes, while stacking them vertically.
A three-dimensional street connects the stacked volumes vertically, and the blank space created by shifting them is treated like a terrace, where the activities that emanate from each volume are expressed in a small city.
Just as in the wholesale districts of the Edo period, when each business was visually connected to the public space, creating a vitality in the city, the livelihood of the three different manufacturing spaces is intended to contribute to the identity of the area as a manufacturing city.

＞Japanese