Taiga
Taba
SOCIAL CONDENSER
Industrial Anonimity
Aoyama Bell Commons, designed by Kisho Kurokawa originally functioned as a fashion center of Aoyama/Omotesando. At present, established fashion houses permeate throughout the city, and it can be said that Aoyama Bell Commons contributed to spearhead such development. The building however, being detached from the main street, lost popularity over the years and closed in 2014. This assignment required us to create a condensed version of the modern information-oriented society at the site of Aoyama Bell Commons.
Site Background
Aoyama/Omotesando is a city that consists of various commercial facilities. Brand-named fashion houses align along the streets. These are old-established stores permeating the city, creating difficulties for newcomers to join the industry. Mass production of clothing are displayed in stores, where consumers purchase. This consistent cycle has become fixed, disallowing anonymous newcomers to prosper.
A New Axis to be Created
The main commercial axis runs from West to East through Harajuku - Omotesando - Aoyama. This street (Omotesando) is saturated with famous commercial brands and facilities. The other axis (Aoyama Street) on the other hand is more of a transport road with lower land values. Smaller shops tend to open for business alongside this street. With the completion of the social condenser, this axis could function as a gradational elevation towards the main axis. Newcomers will test their products in the social condenser and if it's successful, the products will move on to the commercial core of the planned building and run its business there. Subsequently if possible, they will open an individual shop on the new axis, and make its journey towards the main axis.
Building Coverage Ratio / Floor Area Ratio Prototype
Requirements
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Site Area: 2,264 ㎡
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Building Coverage Ratio: 80%
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Floor Area Ratio: 700%
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Land designated as commercial use
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The Area of Social Condenser should be approximately 10%
Information-Oriented Society
The recent society sees an overflow of information, creating a society oriented on it. As the information-oriented society progresses, the relationship between individuals dilutes. Exchanging information has become something that does not require a face-to-face interaction. Therefore, it is not rare for people to engage in activities with the anonymous others. The defect is that some of these information have an unknown source, or may be manipulated and contain fallacies. The upside of this information-oriented society is that people learn to create a buffer zone within their minds. In other words, information is starting to be evaluated purely on quality instead of the value in the name of the source. There is a process similar to natural selection.
Shape Diagram (How Social Condenser is Created)
Modern Social Condenser
I interpreted this Social Condenser, as the name suggests, a condensed version of the information-based society where people have to select their own information. I thought this inclination of the information-oriented society could be applied to a city such as Aoyama/Omotesando where everything is evaluated on name-value. As an experimental method, I created space based on anonymity. By maintaining “anonymity”, the products will be taken out of their context, allowing name-valued brands and the newcomers to compete on the same evaluation axis. Consequently leaving the consumers to judge purely based on the quality of the products. This is what I called a Modern Social Condenser. My interpretation of a Modern Social Condenser will be inserted in the new Complex to connect the anonymous businesses with the consumers. In other words, this is a system where consumers can contribute to the growth of the anonymous businesses, acting as a catalyst towards their entry to the industry.
Products are experimented in the Office/Production Core
The source of each product is kept anonymous when promoting within the Social Condenser
Products with high reputation are finally tagged and sold in the Commercial Core
Showrooms within the Social Condenser is open for any fashion brands, whether they are large fashion houses or newcomers. The requisite is for the items to be untagged for it to be taken out of their context. Each brand is conferred a small space, where they can freely create installations and display their items. If the consumer wishes to purchase, the item will become tagged and sold in the commercial core, where the customer will proceed to purchase. This is when the source of the item will be fully revealed to the consumer. In conclusion, consumers are able to judge purely by the quality of the item, without any miscellaneous information that may jeopardize the essence of fashion. Newcomers are able to compete on the same evaluation axis as others, and the social condenser will support aspiring designers to prosper in the industry.
SWIPE !!
In order to secure anonymity, the openings of the facade of the office/production core are angled. (When Social Condensers strategically act as a connection between two cores and thus create an opening on the core, this is not the case) Visitors cannot directly view the working areas of the office/production core. Openings that are closer to the floor is kept less angled, and openings that are off the ground may be more angled. Thus allowing the workers in the office/production core to have a finer view towards the Social Condenser.
The ground floor design is crucial in a city where tall building blocks are scattered. Commercial areas for Established fashion houses are limited to the lower flats, the higher flats being dedicated to office areas. Commercial building complexes, on the other hand, have most floors opened to the public. In order to incorporate such complex building within the axis where numerous fashion houses align, the ground floor must act seamlessly to the city to enhance mobility. By achieving this continuity, the complex will less likely be diluted in a competitive industry.
Ground Floor Design
