Crater Lake is an installation project last exhibited at the Kobe Biennale 2011. The project was one of the winners for Shitsurai Art International Competition organized by the city of
Kobe. This installation - environment is a meeting place to observe the beauty of the
surroundings, and it seeks to provoke sustainable social interaction. For arquitects 24º studio, this was the important catalyst that brought Kobe residents to revitalize their city after the tragic Great Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake of 1995. The earthquake led to
inevitable changes within the built environment, sparring only the nature that surrounds Kobe. Strong social ties helped the population to overcome the
disaster and rebuild the city, making it a better living environment.
The
Crater Lake installation is situated in the man-made Port Island, Shiosai Park, a location providing a generous view of the Kobe
urban center, its surrounding mountainscape and seascape. The installation seeks to take this unique location into advantage, by creating an
undulating wooden landscape that provides a variation of open and unconstrained settings with a 360°
viewing vista.
Network
Crater Lake, installation view
Every surface may be utilized as seating and lying down surface. Additional seating stools are set in the
middle of the space that can be reorganized accordingly to the user's preferences.
The gentle hill surfaces invites people of multiple generations by providing spatial conditions that allow to
interact with the landscape space like a playground device, relax in the shade of the mount, and socialize
by seating in preferred order.
Multiple ideas and materials were tested to realize the complexity of smooth and undulating form. Wood
was chosen for its strong structural capacity, ease of work with, and natural qualities. One of the main
issues was to express continuous and smooth surface without using costly techniques of wood steaming,
bending or digital fabrication. The solution was to divide the circular surface into a number of radial parts,
with optimal number of 20 parts. Factors that determined this optimal number were overall surface
expression, production schedule, and transportation method (vehicle bedsize). These 20 radial parts were
preassembled off the site and transported by a vehicle to the main site of Shiosai Park.
Crater Lake, installation detail
Standard wood and off-the-shelf hardware were used in construction to avoid any costly customized fabrication process. 2x4 studs were used for all structural members and 30x60 mm treated cedar wood was used for the surface. The structure of radial parts consists of series of free-form ribs composed in segmentations with horizontal support and cross bracing for rigidity. Each radial segment has 64 surface planks that are attached to three structural ribs that are rigidly connected between each other with horizontal supports. The surfaces with the most anticipated traffic flow have narrow spacing between each plank. And as the mount becomes higher, the spacing distance of surface planks increases, allowing users to climb the mount. The rising mount resulted from understanding the site and seasonal conditions, functioning as a sun shading and wind protection from the bay winds when sitting in the inner area.
Crater Lake, application diagram
Crater Lake Installation
10 x 1,7 meters
Kobe, Japan
Completed September 2011
Design by 24° Studio (Fumio Hirakawa + Marina Topunova)
Crater Lake, installation view
Network
Architecture, News