Onagawa is a city on the hills, so the architects had to design buildings not only earthquake resistant, but also adapted to such a difficult terrain. The combination of these conditions led to the low number of storeys of both residential buildings and the public center. The height of the first does not exceed three floors, the community center is even lower.
Shigeru Ban saw his main task in creating inexpensive but comfortable housing, in which families that had lost their homes due to the earthquake could live for several months, and if necessary, for several years. In the plan, residential buildings are elongated rectangles, divided into "cells" of apartments. The architect designs open loggias between the apartments - this not only makes the buildings more earthquake resistant, but also provides its inhabitants with a certain privacy. And the alternation of apartments and loggias in a checkerboard pattern gives the facades of houses a great expressiveness.
The chess theme is also supported with the help of a coloristic solution - however, instead of predictable black and white colors, the architect uses light gray and pale pink, believing that these tones soften the laconic geometry of residential volumes better.
The project provides for three types of apartments - modest 19-meter studios for singles and childless couples, thirty- and forty-meter apartments for families of 4 or more people. The inner walls of the apartments are designed as sliding screens with it, so that the living space can be reduced or, conversely, increased depending on the needs of a particular family. The extremely simple design of natural wood furniture complements the look of economical housing, providing its inhabitants with everything they need.
The social center of the new commune turned out to be just as simple and laconic. Its volume consists of the same universal container cells as residential buildings, only in this case they no longer serve as apartments, but as premises for various purposes - these are studios, service centers, and offices. The architect builds these "boxes" in two flanks and covers them with a single roof in such a way that a large universal space appears between the rooms - the central hall, which is planned to be used for meetings, exhibitions, etc. In order to fill it with light and air, Shigeru Ban lifts the ridge of the roof above it and glazes the resulting pediment. The market of the new commune is solved even easier. Here, the same white containers are placed along the perimeter of the shopping area, and an awning is stretched between them.
A. M.
