A workshop for proposing urban and architectural designs of Yokohama waterfront district was held at Y-GSA with ETH Zürich on September 11-21, 2007.
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The "Yokohama Urban Ring Exhibition" was held in 1992. That exhibition was part of the Yokohama Urban Design Forum International Conference--which was organized by Yokohama City and intended to affirm both domestically and internationally the importance of urban design--and consisted of proposals by eight selected architects and artists from inside and outside Japan including Toyo Ito and Rem Koolhaas for urban functions and network systems in the year 2050 in the region dubbed the "Urban Ring" encircling Yokohama Harbor. Their common concept, the opening up of the Yokohama waterfront to the public as changes occur in the industrial structure, had an impact on the era and influenced the subsequent process of urban formation in Yokohama.
Time has passed, and it is now 2007 in Yokohama. Landmark Tower, still under construction in 1992, has been completed. Waterside spaces such as the Red Brick Warehouses and the Osenbashi International Passenger Terminal have been developed. Fragments of the future depicted by architects 15 years ago have been made real. Yokohama City has made "A City Dedicated to Culture and Art--Creative City Yokohama" its new watchword. It sees the nurturing of art and culture as a way of carving a future for itself and has installed BankART and satellite facilities for the Film & New Media School of the Tokyo National University of Fine Arts & Music.
Y-GSA, together with graduate students from ETH Zürich, held a summer workshop for proposing urban and architectural designs of the Yokohama waterfront district. The theme was "Harbor City--A Future Image for the Yokohama Harbor District Considered from the Waterfront". The participants were divided into six groups, each a mix of students from both schools. The 11-day program called on them to follow the changes the city has experienced, study and analyze problems Yokohama is facing today, and depict the future of Yokohama 20 years hence.
Theme: Harbor City--A Future Image for the Yokohama Harbor District Considered from the Waterfront"
Period: September 11 (Tues) - 21 (Fri), 2007
Base of activity: Y-GSA Studio, Kitanaka Brick 3F.
Content:
* Study of Yokohama Harbor (tour of Yokohama Harbor and port, group discussion)
* Design exercise (preparation of drawings, sketches, models in groups)
* Review of planning and design presentations by advisors and lecturers
* Presentations (intermediate review, final review)
* Lectures by ETH teachers (series of lectures open to the public)
Advisors:
ETH Zürich
Felix Claus, Kees Christiaanse, Mark Michaeli, Nicolas Krestschman
Y-GSA
Riken Yamamoto, Koh Kitayama, Yoshihiko Iida, Ryue Nishizawa, Kayoko Sakashita, Osamu Nishida, Masashi Hino, Yusuke Matsumoto, Takenori Miura.
Participants:
Ken Aoki, Kei Ayashiro, Lee joon-ho, Takaaki Endo, Atsushi Oto, Tomoko Kakehata, Keisuke Kawaguchi, Shuji Kawaguchi, Takahiro Shimada, Kazuhiro Sobue, Kenta Takano, Yuichiro Tanaka, Rika Hiratsuji, Ryota Hirose, Sota Matsuura, Yu Momoeda, Tsuyoshi Yano, Shin Yokogi, Atsushi Yokomizo. (Y-GSA: 19 persons)
Chantal Reichenbach, Davide Blasi, Guill aume Yersin, Kathrein Gimmel, Katrin Pfaeffli, Lorentz Müller, Nicolas Hugentobler, Piet Nieder, Raphael Bollhalder, Raphaela Hurschler, Rosanna Borsotti, Simone Cartier. (ETH: 12 persons)
Organizers: Y-GSA, Graduate School, Yokohama National University + ETH Zürich
Planners: Mariko Terada (Y-GSA Studio Manager), Mark Michaeli (associate professor, ETH Zürich
Collaborator: Yokohama City
Administrators: Y-GSA Summer Workshop 2007 Executive Committee
(Mariko Terada, Mikiko Tabata, Ken Aoki, Kazuhiro Sobue, Shuichi Tanaka, Rika Hiratsuji, Sota Matsuura, Yu Momoeda, Shin Yokogi)
