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Being a neighborhood filled with post-war buildings in the middle of Tokyo, one of the most futuristic cities in the world, somehow catalyzed the need to regenerate the area. That was the beginning of the long journey Tokyo’s latest modern urban village took.
Azabudai Hills, a huge and complex project designed by Heatherwick Studio, is the new community that replaced the old one we mentioned in the very first sentence of the last paragraph. What is very interesting about this place is that around 90 percent of former tenants reveal their goals of returning to living in this neighborhood once again, even though nothing looks the same as when they moved out.
Let’s take a deeper look at how Heatherwick Studio creates such phenomena.
“We were inspired to create a district that connects with people’s emotions in a different way,” stated Thomas Heatherwick, Founder of Heatherwick Studio. “By combining cultural and social facilities with an extraordinary three-dimensional, explorable landscape, it’s been possible to offer visitors and the local community somewhere to connect with each other and enjoy open green public spaces.”
Situated on a Y-shaped site, the project has been softly separated into three portions, each with its own unique characteristics. The dynamic retail space occupies the land on the Eastern side, while the residential area wholly fills the opposite end. Then, there is also a zone for a business district in the South.
The design emphasizes the significance of combining traditional and modern artificial environments, one of Tokyo’s most attractive features. Azabudai Hills connects all kinds of users within its territory, not only through the variety of programs but also through the 81,000 square meters of greenery space.
“From very early on, our team was interested in integrating nature and city center projects in a major way, rather than minor garnishes around the edges. It had to be a technique that allowed nature and buildings to merge together, and a breakthrough was thinking about pergola structures. What interested us was that the timber structure is square. It makes a grid. Instead of just seeing it as a flat pergola with plants going through, we could deform that while from above, still keeping a square grid, almost like a net or sheet of fabric. So, as you walk around, a piece of the park rises up and becomes a building, and not just have a street level and roofs, but blur that,” Thomas Heatherwick spelled out the design origin.
Whether trees, grass, or water, all of these natural elements are linked to the walkable rooftop pathway. Any member of the community can explore and meet up with their neighbors in the friendliest environment possible.
Children are also an essential part of the community, and Azabudai Hills can absolutely embrace them in its own way. The British School in Tokyo is another significant program located within the project; not only does it host daytime learning activities for those little ones, but the building also connects them to outdoor nature with thoughtful design engaging the local climate conditions.
“Over the last 10 years, we have tried to get under the skin of what makes something distinctively Tokyo, whilst at the same time adding something new that’s fresh and soft to its modern built environment,” Neil Hubbard, partner and Group Leader at Heatherwick Studio wrapped things up. “We wanted to create vistas full of variety and intrigue and spaces to explore. It’s a confluence of different families of design all brought together in one place. I can’t wait to watch people explore it.”
Project Name: Azabudai Hills
Architect: Heatherwick Studio
Completion Year: 2023
Location: Tokyo, Japan
Area: 81,000 sq.m.
Photo: Raquel Diniz, Kenji Masunaga
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