Shenpei Ha’s proposal is for a salt farm onsen that will help facilitate the restoration of Miyato Island after the 2011 Tohoku earthquake and the subsequent tsunami in Eastern Japan.
Shenpei Ha
London Metropolitan University
Borrowed scenery: Miyato salt farm onsen. © Shenpei Ha.
Jury
Ian Crockford
Kent Jackson
John-Paul Nunes
Deyan Sudjic
This lyrical proposal explores the relationship of the government’s ambition and the locals’ wishes—the desire to create a concrete barrier to protect inland development from future tsunamis and the desire to preserve the natural landscape that the island offers. It is an exercise in tracing the regional vernacular of rural living and looking at the nativizing discourse of concrete in Japan.
This project does not seek to challenge, but rather synthesize the existing life on the Miyato Island by considering a marriage of the seawall into the terraced landscape. The architectural intervention is a salt terrace farm and an open salt hot spring. It brings the language of the seawater back inland (the government has ordered the islanders to move away from the beaches/coasts) and augments the aspect of living with the sea/saltwater by turning it into an industry that can attract new tenants and visitors of a younger generation.
The proposal wishes to be an impetus for future development concerning the empirical experience, as well as a call for challenging the notion of what it means to preserve Japan’s heritage.
Diminishing cultural identities: Stories and interviews. © Shenpei Ha.
© Shenpei Ha.
Community hall section and partial plan. © Shenpei Ha.
The bathhouse: Borrowed scenery. © Shenpei Ha.
Shenpei Ha
London Metropolitan University
is a registered Intern Architect in the United Kingdom and Canada. He has worked internationally for Shigeru Ban in Tokyo, Steven Holl Architects in Beijing, and Henriquez Partners Architects in Vancouver. His professional diploma thesis (Part 2) was also nominated for the RIBA President Silver Medal as well was shortlisted for the Young Talent Architecture Award 2016 by the Fundació Mies van der Rohe. His research investigates the relationships between modern cultures and temporal architectural interventions and is currently engaging in research exploring the civic responsibilities of the younger populace.
