YOKOHAMA>

After a rough start this a.m., I finally made it to Yokohama to see the International Port Terminal by F.O.A. (Foreign Office Architects). Only 30 minutes from Tokyo Station, Yokohama is supposed to be the 2nd largest city in Japan after Tokyo. If you saw the maps I have of the subway / train service between the two cities, you definitely wouldn't doubt this fact...the Tokyo subway system dwarfs Yokohama in terms of representation and in scale in general. It is very difficult to find anything that describes the route to get there and to get around once you are there, but I was able to figure it out...

The International Port Terminal is adjacent to 'downtown' Yokohama and easily reached by foot from the Kannai station (go to this station and not 'Yokohama' if you make it there). On the two lane road tethering the terminal to the shore, the building appears ominous as you see it from below instead of head-on, because an elongated ramp leads up to the entrance so vehicles can park on the pier underneath the building. Coming down from the building, the wood decking greets the sidewalk and takes you into the project. There are two ways of entering the building: one by means of the roof and the other is a traditional entry into the entry hall. The deck bifurcates; both outer edges gently ramp up to the roof while the main deck leads you inside.

Just prior to entering, the landscaped roof or roofscape overhangs the glass enclosure; it is here that you see the structural expression of the building itself. Steel plates are folded in an origami-like system (sorry for the reference) that thicken as you move away from the center and, depending on the location of the series of ramps that connect the three levels, turn down and become structural 'columns' for the building. When looked at from the side, you can clearly read these 'columns' running vertically through the building. Always appearing symmetrically balanced along the building's center, what occurs on one side of this center line is mirrored on the other side. Inside, the decking continues, but the grey, folded steel dominates the space. It has the feeling as if you are inside of a ship itself. Huge florescent uplights are used to illuminate the space. No skylights occur; the only connection to the water from the inside are the occasional glass walls which surprisingly do not help to illuminate the interior much more, and the ramps that lead to the roof.

Outside on the roof is where you experience the swells that occur in the main hall's structural ceiling. Long ramping processions lead to this new roofscape of decking and grass lawn inserts. Depending on local conditions on the roof, the decking's linear strips adjust to the different geometries producing wild patterns that are exasperated by how each plank reflects sun or by the glare produced from a previous rain. Double steel tubes are held off of the surface and act as benches again recalling the linearity of the decking planks. After the entry hall, the roof returns to meet the interior level; here, the sides become wide steps which play as an informal seating venue. Another entry occurs--this time to an formal restaurant and other back of house programs for the complex.

Illuminated by vertical linear light strips, the roof is also dramatic at night. The patterning of the seemingly random placed lights against the blackness of the sky and bay beyond is nice, and, too, when viewed against the city.

I had a great time here and even took some time to visit closer to the downtown area. Fortunately, I came upon a German Oktoberfest and enjoyed a beer while singing 'Ein Prosit' with the Japanese crowd...that for some reason was not on my 'formal' itinerary! never saw that one coming!


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