Common spaces (hereafter CS) are venues established and operated by NPOs, voluntary organizations or individuals, and open to the local community. An exchange space where locals can freely interact, the number of these venues is increasing in Japan. In recent years, the CSs designed by architects has been widely published in architectural magazines, where these architects unfold numerous ideas about ways to engage with the locality. These ideas are not limited to architectural spaces, but also relate to the users’ activities and the design and implementation process itself. The purpose of this research is to clarify this unfolding new design thinking by analyzing both the discourse by architects through their texts, and the actual architectural configuration, through published photographs and drawings.
As research materials we examined the projects published in the magazine Shin-kenchiku. We selected 58 cases of Japanese architecture containing CSs, both newly built architecture and renovations. To analyze the design discourse, we extracted from the accompanying text of each project the commentaries concerning how the CS engages or connectects with the locality. We analyzed these texts qualitatively using the method of affinity diagram, which is based on the KJ method. The analysis of the building configuration focused on the commentaries, and drawings published. For each case we compiled the information on the local situation, building coverage ratio, connection to the surrounding streets, number of entrance faces, the CS occupancy, and facade transparency. Finally, in order to clarify the overall design thinking on CSs, we created a matrix combining the analysis on discourses and the architectural configuration.
As a result, many discourses emphasized the importance of the preliminary design process, and the post-completion management, such as the involvement of local residents through design and construction workshops. This contrasts to the separation of design and construction in modernism, where the architect’s authorship was strengthened, and the values that considered the completion of architecture as end of the architect’s involvement. In addition, we found many architectural configurations to invite visitors, such as opening the facade, or connecting the interior space to the outside with eaves and engawa. The fact that the new built projects also included an emphasis on everyday life and conventional materials, reveals that even within the freer conditions of new buildings, architects are increasingly interested in local engagement by using their architectural skills.
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