INSIGHTS

2019.12.11

R&D DISCUSSION Vol. 24

Looking at the future design process through "Renovation" [Part 2]

Masataka Baba Architect

R&D DISCUSSION TOP
This project regenerated the Kangetsubashi housing complex, where the early prototype of the Japan Housing Corporation (now the Urban Renaissance Agency) remains intact. "Our mission was to reconstruct the housing complex format and deliver space to new residents," says Baba.

Q: You have also worked on many public properties.

A: The first project we worked on with UR Urban Development Corporation was the "Kangetsubashi Housing Complex Revitalization" (2012) [Photo 1]. It all started when UR approached us with a request for help saying that they had a huge amount of unused rooms on the 4th and 5th floors of the complex. So, while taking advantage of the good points of the traditional tanzaku plan, we worked to slightly tidy up the overall plan. We repainted the interior walls, cleaned up the bathroom and created a small earthen floor space at the entrance. We left the existing front door and other parts as they were. We paid homage to the plan created by our predecessors, but re-edited it to make it more modern. It seems that just by doing this, the competition rate tripled. This case acted as a rebranding of the complex itself, and sparked a housing complex boom that continued for some time.

At the same time, we also launched "Danchi R Real Estate" as a housing complex version of Tokyo R Real Estate, and the most popular project in the history of Danchi R Real Estate is the "Customized UR Project" (2013-). This is a housing complex where you can renovate even though it is rented. There is no obligation to restore the property to its original state, and the state after renovation by the tenant is defined as the "new original state", and you can move out as is. It is a strange phenomenon that the entire housing complex is updated automatically with the customers' money. Everyone Renovation very well. It is not deterioration over time, but improvement over time. In another housing complex, there were people who Renovation their rooms into studios for photography, and people who used part of the room as a store for products they made themselves, and I felt that the use of "residence" in modern cities is becoming more complex. I also realized that the time has come when people who edit their own spaces will appear.

This project produced the "tool box" [Photo 2]. It is an e-commerce site for interesting and unique building materials selected from a huge catalog. We realized that flooring was the most popular product, and that end users wanted to buy flooring. It is still our best seller. We started this media half-jokingly at first, but now it boasts the highest sales in the R Real Estate Group. This shows us once again that there are a lot of people who want to create and live in their own spaces. It seems that even professionals are using it (laughs).

[Photo 1] "Regeneration of the Kangetsubashi Housing Complex" (Fushimi Ward, Kyoto City, Kyoto Prefecture, 2012).
The dwellings that were occupied remained as they were, but the rooms that were vacant were renovated at different times.
We will renovate them one by one.
[Photo 2] It serves as a toolbox for residents to "edit" their own space.
"tool box" https://www.r-toolbox.jp

Q: Could you tell us about the area Renovation you have been working on recently?

A: I had always been doing "point" Renovation, but at one point I realized that if you put them all together, it would become a "surface" Renovation. I didn't really like the term "town development." The word itself is too beautiful, and somehow it gives the impression that you can't make a profit, and that you have to work with a volunteer spirit. But instead, I thought about whether there was a new concept that could change an area while still being profitable, and that's when I came up with the term "area Renovation." I then published this in a book called "Area Renovation /Structure of Change and Localization" (co-authored, Gakugei Publishing, 2016) [Photo 3].

It all started with an event called "CET (Central East Tokyo)" [Photo 4], which began in 2003. This project involves finding interesting vacant properties in the Nihonbashi area, such as Bakurocho and Kanda, and using the vacant space as a gallery for a certain period of time, thereby utilizing vacant properties in the city to create a gallery for the entire area. Artists can exhibit their works for free, and customers can view the artworks while also seeing the city from a new perspective. By using the property as a gallery, the owners can increase the added value, and customers can view the properties, creating a relationship in which everyone can gradually become happier. As a result of continuing this project for eight years, the land prices in the CET area have risen sharply, and the area has been branded. At that time, I thought that the changes in points continue to change into changes in the surface, which is very similar to urban planning and town development.

It became clear that four characters are needed when an area changes: a "real estate character" who prepares good open space, an "architectural character" who sets up the space well, a "graphics character" who creates attractive images, and finally an "editing character" who oversees the whole and reconstructs the appearance. Until now, the social structure had been pyramidal, but changes in points will lead to changes in surfaces, which will then become more networked like an amoeba, and this is how areas will change, and I had a real feeling that this might be the urban planning of the next era [Slide 1].

[Photo 3] In our co-authored book, Area Renovation/Structure of Change and Localization (Gakugei Publishing, 2016), we explored methodologies through case studies of Kanda and Nihonbashi (CET) in Tokyo, Tonyacho in Okayama City, Abeno and Showacho in Osaka City, the old town area of Onomichi City, Zenkoji Temple in Nagano City, and Kokura and Uomachi in Kitakyushu City.
[Photo 4] CET (Central East Tokyo) (2003-2010) is an event held once a year for two weeks from autumn to winter, in which vacant properties in the CET area are rented for a limited period and turned into galleries.
[Slide 1] From points to surfaces. And then, "area Renovation" creates an amoeba-like network.

[Photos 1-4, Slide 1: Provided by Open A]

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PROFILE

architect

CEO of Open A Co., Ltd., Director of R Tokyo Real Estate, Professor at Tohoku University of Art and Design

Masataka Baba

Baba Masataka

Born in Saga in 1968. Graduated from the Master's program in Architecture at Waseda University Graduate School (Ishiyama Osamu Laboratory) in 1994. After working at Hakuhodo, a doctoral program at Waseda University, and as editor-in-chief of the magazine "A," he founded Open A in 2003. He runs Tokyo R Real Estate, a website that discovers vacant spaces in the city. He also serves as director of CET (Central East Tokyo), an event that turns vacant buildings in Nihonbashi and Kanda on Tokyo's east side into temporary galleries, and is active across media and real estate while keeping Architectural Design at the core.

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Update : 2018.09.21

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