HORIZONTAL LANDMARKS
CHAPTER 1
INTRODUCTION
Landmarks, as a concept, have been recognized as crucial elements for urban cognition. Ever since the concept was, along with four other key elements of the city, introduced by Kevin Lynch in 1960, it has been covered in many studies across various fields. In general, landmarks possess vertical enormity, and are relatively perceived as points in the urban context (figure 1.2). However, over the course of a few decades when the Japan witness a movement towards an exponential economic growth, so did architecture, giving birth to a new architectural typology: station buildings.
A station building, usually defined simply as a passenger railway station in the world, conveys a different meaning in the Japanese context. In Japan, it is a multi-functional facility, which commercial facilities are added on to the basic station functions. Station buildings are often considered more to be the face, rather than the platforms, tracks, and concourses. To compensate for the high land price, which rises in proportion to the distance from the station, railway companies went viral constructing large scale tenant buildings, to accommodate department stores, offices, and hotels. These station buildings, as they are built along the linear train tracks, naturally possess horizontally long forms, and therefore perceived as lines in the urban context.
Given the background mentioned above, the main objective of my research is to point out the necessity to reinterpret the concept of landmarks in the contemporary cities of Japan. Focusing on station buildings as the first case study of horizontally enormous architecture, I aim to analyze the way stations buildings are perceived in the urban context, and to reveal the visibility characteristics they possess that serve them as a new architectural typology of landmarks.
A station building, usually defined simply as a passenger railway station in the world, conveys a different meaning in the Japanese context. In Japan, it is a multi-functional facility, which commercial facilities are added on to the basic station functions. Station buildings are often considered more to be the face, rather than the platforms, tracks, and concourses. To compensate for the high land price, which rises in proportion to the distance from the station, railway companies went viral constructing large scale tenant buildings, to accommodate department stores, offices, and hotels. These station buildings, as they are built along the linear train tracks, naturally possess horizontally long forms, and therefore perceived as lines in the urban context.
Given the background mentioned above, the main objective of my research is to point out the necessity to reinterpret the concept of landmarks in the contemporary cities of Japan. Focusing on station buildings as the first case study of horizontally enormous architecture, I aim to analyze the way stations buildings are perceived in the urban context, and to reveal the visibility characteristics they possess that serve them as a new architectural typology of landmarks.
figure 1.1 HISTORY OF LANDMARKS / EMERGENCE OF HORIZONTALLY ENORMOUS ARCHITECTURE
figure 1.2 LANDMARKS OF THE WORLD
figure 1.3 RESEARCH OVERVIEW
CHAPTER 2
VISIBILITY MAPPING and METHODOLOGIES
The aim of this chapter is to determine the cognitive regions of targeted station buildings (figure 2.1), and to explain its calculation methodologies. Cognitive regions refer to the regions where the façade of the station building is visually cognitive by the observers, and are gained through a computational analysis, calculated by Rhinoceros and Grasshopper software (figure 2.2). Through these processes, I acquired an overview of the relationship between station buildings and the urban composition of its surroundings. The regions marked in red indicate the areas from which the façade of the station buildings are either partially or fully visually cognitive to the observers (figures 2.3 and 2.4).
figure 2.1 TARGETS OF RESEARCH (STATION BUILDINGS)
figure 2.2 GRASSHOPPER ALGORITHMS
figure 2.4 COGNITIVE REGION FIGURES OF STATION BUILDINGS
CHAPTER 3
CLASSIFICATION and ANALYSIS of COGNITIVE REGION FIGURES
The aim of this chapter is to analyze the figural characteristics of cognitive regions figures, acquired in the previous chapter, and classify them accordingly. Cognitive region figures can be broken down into three parts: (1) surface components, (2) intersecting components, and (3) parallel components. Surface components represent areas that possess surficial enormity, such as parks or plazas, a comparably static area where people have intentions to stay for a certain amount of time. Linear components can be divided again depending on if it is perpendicular, or parallel to the station building façade. Perpendicular components represent dynamic areas, such as roads and alleyways that intersect perpendicular to the façade. Observers standing in the perpendicular component zone have a frontal vision of the façade, and therefore it is easy for them to visually perceive the existence of the station. Parallel components represent spaces of movement such as roads and alleyways that extend parallel to the façade. The façade, in this case creates a longitudinal surface to the observers, where it helps the observers to perceive the depth within the space.
figure 3.1 COMPONENTS OF COGNITIVE REGION FIGURES
figure 3.2 CLASSIFICATION PROCESS OF COGNITIVE REGION FIGURES
figure 3.3 CLASSIFCATION OF COGNITIVE REGION FIGURES
CHAPTER 3
ARCHITECTURAL CLASSIFICATION and ANALYSIS of STATION BUILDINGS
This chapter discusses station buildings from an architectural point of view, mainly focusing on their specific planar characteristics, and façade compositions. Through analyzing the elevational compositions, the façades can be classified into three categories (figure 4.3), depending on if they possess homogeneity, heterogeneity, or singularity. When the building façade possesses homogeneity, it is either composed of a singular material, or a repetition of certain design units, where as when it possesses heterogeneity, it is either composed of several materials, or of multiple design codes. Lastly, the building façade possess singularity, when it contains one or several singularity points, such as posters and banners, which distinguish themselves from the remaining design code.
figure 4.1 CLASSIFICATIONS THROUGH PLANAR IRREGULARITY
figure 4.2 PLANAR IRREGULARITIES OF TARGETED STATION BUILIDNGS
figure 4.3 CLASSIFICATION THROUGH ELEVATIONAL COMPOSITIONS
CHAPTER 5
VISIBILTIY CHARACTERISTICS of STATION BUILDINGS
This chapter aims to reveal the visibility characteristics of station buildings that define them as horizontal landmarks, which is uniquely derived from different combination patterns between (A) the urbanistic characteristics of cognitive region figures, as explained in Chapter 3, and (B) the architectural characteristics of station buildings, as explained in Chapter 4. I looked closely into Ikebukuro and Kyoto stations as case studies to further support this finding.
figure 5.1 CHAPTER OVERVIEW
(1) IKEBUKURO STATION
The cognitive region figure of Ikebukuro Station (figure 5.2) indicates that the seven roads intersect perpendicularly to the façade at distributed points, and therefore Ikebukuro Station can be concluded to belong to the branches category on figure 3.3. The red borders in figure 5.3 indicate the segments of the façade that are visible from each corresponding intersecting street. The façade that extends 427 meters along Meiji Street, is homogenous, and is composed of a repetition of single design units figure 5.4). Although every intersecting street frames a different segment of the façade, the elevational homogeneity of Ikebukuro Station gives the observers, whichever street they are observing from, a perception that their sights are oriented towards one specific building.
figure 5.2 ELEVATIONAL CHARACTERISTICS
figure 5.3 SEGMENTS OF FACADE VISIBLE FROM EACH STREET
figure 5.4 SEGMENTED VIEWS FROM INTERSECTING STREETS
(2) KYOTO STATION
The cognitive region figure of Kyoto Station (figure 5.5) indicates the four roads that intersect perpendicularly to the façade at distributed points, and therefore this station is classified as the branches category on figure 3.3. At the same time, it can also be classified as the plaza category, as it also possesses a surficial component. The red borders in figure 5.6 indicate the segments of the façade that are visible from each corresponding intersecting street. The heterogeneous composition of the façade, designed by Hiroshi Hara, changes dynamically throughout the 558 meters, and therefore every segment, which is framed by the intersecting streets, vary from one to one. There are two singularity points, or gates in Hiroshi Hara's words, which the architect emphasizes to have intentionally allocated them where they are today, on considering how his design is to be viewed from the intersecting streets. The large space in front of Kyoto Station, indicated as a surficial component in figure 5.5, enables observers to view the station from a distance, giving them a full overview of the building.
figure 5.6 SEGMENTS OF FACADE VISIBLE FROM EACH STREET
figure 5.7 ELEVATIONAL CHARACTERISTICS
figure 5.8 SEGMENTED VIEWS FROM INTERSECTING STREETS
CHAPTER 6
CONCLUSION
In general, station buildings are not often discussed in retrospect of academic architectural studies. However, this new approach of looking closely at station buildings from an urban cognition point of view, has revealed that different combinations of visibility characteristics and architectural (especially elevational) characteristics of station buildings contribute greatly to adding diversity to how people can orient themselves within an urban context.
In another words, station buildings each possess their own unique landmark-ness, derived not only from their architectural characteristics, but rather in correspondence to the city. Understanding the spatial qualities and functional possibilities that horizontal landmarks possess, and executing the knowledge as actual architecture designs, has never been more important than it is today.
Buildings that possess horizontal enormity, without question, impose huge impact, both physically and psychologically, to our urban environment. When going against economic development is not an option, it is necessary to understand the consequences, reinterpret the existing notions, and shift our mindsets to construct a better future.
