THE PHYSICAL EXPERIENCE OF SPENDING TIME IN AN ARTIFICIAL LANDSCAPE
Plaza of Kanagawa Institute of Technology, Kanagawa, Japan
JUNYA.ISHIGAMI+ASSOCIATES
As the programme required a versatile semi-outdoor plaza and the campus already included many multipurpose facilities, the aim was to accommodate diverse ways of passing the time, thereby compensating for the lack of places on campus where students could relax and take a break. In this sense, versatility was interpreted as an ambiguity of functions housed in a workshop that is not a uniform space. One can sit on the floor talking or enjoying lunch, get lost in thought, take a nap or do some exercise on a rainy day, but also exhibit thesis projects and set up market stalls for campus festivals. Here, the emphasis is on “how to pass the time” rather than “how to use” the space. The outdoor spaces on campus are mainly surrounded by tall buildings, these “in-between” places are highly artificial, lack variation in scenery and offer little chance to appreciate the changes of natural phenomena.
