INFRATECTURE. Defunct Strategies.

[2M5] DEFUNCT STRATEGIES.

Future vision of Kinjo Pier

Preliminary schemes for the transformation of Kinjo Pier in Nagoya Port are unimaginative. Watercolor washes depict glass office towers surrounded by empty plazas and grass fields. These images could easily be mistaken for Greenway Plaza in Houston, or any other Western office park of the latter half of the twentieth century. Given the incredible potential for a conflation of various programs on the site, one wonders why Nagoya city planners choose to embrace outdated Western planning models which separate different functions along rigid proprietary lines, effectively killing off urbanism. The existing modern Japanese city, with its frenetic, variegated landscape is actually a much better model for urbanism; however, the Japanese see potential for a new city which is more organized and less congested.

Nevertheless, the corporate Ville Radieuse model is hardly appropriate. While it would provide a greater sense of legibility and more breathing space than the Japanese are used to, it would ultimately hinder the goal of creating a more sophisticated and integrated port. New plans should highlight connectivity, centrality (in terms of physical hubs or interchanges), and engagement; factors which characterize existing Japanese cities and which have played an important part in the success of the modern Japanese economy. Naturally, the new cities built on reclaimed land would need to acknowledge the spatial demands and organizational requirements of new transportation technologies and work/live strategies; however, ‘new’ need not imply ‘Western.’ I would challenge Japanese architects and planners to envision a new city which is distinctly Japanese; one which maintains the qualities that function well in existing Japanese cities, while adapting to meet new needs.

Images: 1. and 2. Future visions of Kinjo Pier

A Master's Thesis in Architecture at Rice University by Blaine Brownell.