DESA1002 'Nine Quarter City' - <Kelly Millgate>

The Asakusa metro line is my response to our collective semester 2 project 'Nine Quarter city' - a generic city comprised of 9 actual cities to create distinct 'quarter's' all woven into an overall urban order. Being assigned none other than Tokyo - a major global city and technology hub - my design aims to reflect the unique atmosphere of Japan's capital, home to twelve million people. Bearing this in mind, I decided that it would be near impossible to recreate the complexity and bustle of the megacity. Thus early on, my concept was one of simplicity. In developing my design, it was key that the station be close to roads and walkways as well as central with respect to other sites. I decided on this particular location for these reasons, especially as it is situated on the major diagonal axis of our generic 'nine quarter city'. After deciding on the location of my site, the next step really was to understand my context. Using google earth as a guide, I noticed that the surrounding buildings were of similar height (a characteristic particularly of Asakusa) and confined to an order - making up the 'hard edge' of the streetscape. I tried to embody simplicity in numerous ways, essentially: - using a rectangle as the basis of my design - to emphasise straight, clean lines - double height ground floor - so the vastness and openness of the space is appreciated - inclusion of a Schwedler dome - a pure geometric form to which the eye can be drawn, while also symbolising the hub of the building. It that it is here the circulation takes place and movement can be seen notably through the criss-cross arrangement of escalators through the floors. - the use of a steel frame and double thickness glass. However, though I didn't want to compete vertically with the surrounding buildings, I felt at the same time there was a need for my building to be a part of what train stations typically symbolise - ie a recognisable meeting point for social interaction. I felt one way that I could make it stand out was not only by the inclusion of a glass space framed dome, but an interesting façade. I wanted the final facade to de different from the normal high tech Tokyo façade - in that it represents calm and simplicity in such an energetic city. I tried to achieve this by use of delicate, tessellating shapes and repeating the pattern on the glass façade. - not to block off the surrounding world, but merely screen the brutality of it