Nezu Budokan: The Martial Spirit

Mending the rifts indicated by Karl Marx, Nezu Budokan facilitates elderly people to help young ones, fuses international migrants within local cultural environments, provides unified activities among Japanese with equality, and mitigates between larger-scale developments and minor-scale crowded situations, meanwhile introducing nature to urban daily lives. It is a center for martial arts like Kendo and various cultural forms, accommodated with Japanese-featured retail, drinks, and restaurants.

The design has stratifying floor plates to differentiate programs, which are not hermetically isolated but are connected in their unique relativity. Built with modernized timber and CLT structures, this Budokan echoes traditional Japanese architecture. On top of it, pitched roofs are fragmented to diminish their mid-large scale into smaller scales, and are stepping down to guide water raindrops into the garden and streetscape. Lightweight materials are inserted, with different extents of transparency either open to participation or enclosed for internal usage.

Japanese martial arts such as Kendo, Karate, and Judo, and cultural activities such as Chado and Calligraphy are integrated with gardens, creating a harmonious environment for humans and nature.

Typology: Martial Arts Center (Budokan)
Program: Kendo, Judo, Chado, Karate, Yoga, Retail, Cafe, Reading, Calligraphy.
Scale: 1380 square meters (site area)
Material: CLT, Aluminum, Glass, Concrete