Unbuilt: Melting Cultures // Pop Culture Laboratory at TOKYO, by rat[LAB] Architecture

A form constrained by rigid boundaries of architectural context would always stay reticent. A form molded by natural forces of context is likely to live beyond its life span. Architecture & Urban structure of any place highly reflects the entwining characteristic derived out of multiple layers of cultures and history embedded within. As the name & form suggests, ‘Melting Cultures’ Pop Lab is designed as a fluid and organic form engulfing a multitude of ‘cultural layers’ within. The morphology is highlighted by a layering of vertical sectioning along the outer skin representing a continuous differentiation on the façade. The spatial organization of various functions at multiple levels is fragmented into three building blocks sculpted from a singular form to create inter-site and intra-site permeability.

CONNECTIVITY & POROSITY

Spaces are organized in a fluid manner at different levels connected through external ramps that flow across the fluid skin in a fragmented manner. Primary vertical circulation is segregated into three parts following the tectonic fragmentation. The sculpting of form is designed to allow natural light in the interior spaces as well as to create porosity between the external and internal. A top-down approach to evolve a novel structure is followed through a computational & mathematical process leading to a complex organic structure simplified through a rational configuration of curves & lines. Landscape emerges from the organic form to blend with the context through a smooth yet strong geometry, giving rise to new usable spaces within the existing landscape. This allows Pop Lab to be a piece of art sitting amid natural adjacent spaces and rigid built form. Tactility and experience are given a preference while conceptualizing the materiality of interior space with a rough concrete texture along smooth free-flowing walls broken at intervals by internal elements.

SUSTAINABILITY

• Optimization of the orientation to achieve desired comfort levels.
• Permeability within the site in the form of courtyards and semi open spaces.
• Special windows design to refract harmful heat rays which helps in mitigating the heat gain.
• Maximizing the green foliage by expanding the existing adjacent green zone onto the site to maintain comfort levels indoors as well as outside.
• Recycling rain water using underground rain water harvesting.
• Ensuring ample natural ventilation by creating perforations in the form as per environmental factors.
• Use of insulating double glazed windows.
• Energy efficiency to be achieved by using basic elements like lighting, efficiently along with usage of energy star appliances.
• Proposed use of sustainable materials and materials with greater longevity.

PROJECT FACT FILE:
Project: Melting Cultures // Tokyo Pop Lab
Location: Tokyo
Year: 2016
Type: Competition
Architect: rat[LAB] Reasearch in Architecture and Technology
Design & Computation: Sushant Verma, Ajay Khanna, Prannay Dhingra, Sadhika Baveja
Visualizations: Purva Joshi, Sadhika Baveja

Drawings

Site Plan

Plan at 1m

Plan at 5m

Plan at 7m

Plan at 10m

Plan at 13m