Melisa Hamzaoglu

Methodology

Kyojima is a traditional neighbourhood with a lively community, characterised by its wooden tenement houses and narrow alleys. It is also one of the densest neighbourhoods of Tokyo, and is often called as the city’s epicenter of disaster risk. It severely lacks in post-disaster shelter areas and consists of many high-risk timber frame buildings.

The project only targets sites with the highest earthquake and fire risk, and aims to protect the rich heritage of the local neighbourhood. It proposes a strategy for replacing out-of-use high risk buildings with modern interventions that take inspiration from traditional Japanese architectural elements. 

The strategy aspires to be applicable for a wide range of sites with different qualities, but comprises of a basic common methodology for all the instances;

1. Restrict height of the buildings to a maximum of 3 floors, to keep to the height of neighbouring blocks and protect the ‘human-scale’ feel of the neighbourhood.

2. Pull out first floor 1 metre to create shelter for commercial frontage.

3. Use steel cladding on the façades within close proximity to a neighbouring building, use timber cladding on the other façades, for fire safety and for incorporating sustainably sourced building materials.

4. Create setbacks where needed to ensure fire safety, privacy and views, in order to optimise the building for human-centric design.