Archiprix International 2001
Nagoya University, Department of Architecture, Graduate School of Engineering - Nagoya, Japan
Atsuo Okishio
Tutors: Atsushi Katagi, Yoshihiro Hotta
The existing superhighway in the megalopolis connected the Japanese biggest three cities, Tokyo, Nagoya and Osaka has become severely congested with traffic over the last twenty years, and another superhighway, Tomei-Meishin 2, is now under construction. With the development of this route, the low land of the western Nagoya will be an important hub of the Japanese traffic system in the near future. This project, called 'Transtation', consists of a transport base in the traffic and transport network along Ring3 around Nagoya. This project is located on the delta where three rivers, the Ibi, Ngara and Kiso, converge. In the seventeenth century, pioneers began to construct a circular embankment called ‘Wa-Jyu’ to protect themselves from floods, thus forming a small community. In brief, ‘Wa-Jyu’ was a base in the rice field area and formed a unique landscape element in this area. In this century, Transtation, set on this circular embankment, is the contemporary community formed by the transport business and also represents an island amid the consumer society. In a circle with a diameter of one kilometre, it accommodates various facilities for the biggest four transport companies, many retail outlet shops and restaurants, and public parks. Main roads connecting the big cities are often filled with garish signboards, sprawling from these cities. At present, the area to the west of Nagoya offers a pleasant view of paddy fields spread across the flat landscape. However, the development of another superhighway will bring about the construction of typical suburban shops, restaurants, and garish billboards and signboards. Transtation will accommodate these facilities and signs within the circle, preventing polluting the visual environment of the Japanese traditional countryside. The circle also functions as the highest panorama viewpoint in the otherwise flat landscape. Transtation guarantees the scenery of the paddy fields as well as their continuity. When we drive to the base, we can view the seasonal changes of the paddy fields in the landscape. The terraced pattern of the rice fields divides the Transtation circle into a matrix corresponding to the four transport companies and the destination of freight, and forms the modules to unify the several kinds of buildings with the infrastructures, the roads, the pedestrian deck, and the conveyer belt.