Introduction: "Good Design" as a result of including aspects that have not been evaluated in "Construction" up to now

Nagayama: This unit receives lots of applications every year, and it really is a fiercely contested unit. The contents are also characteristically fairly wide ranging and the judging situation involves a line-up where the points for evaluation tend to differ for each one, so it's always incredibly bewildering. 97 items were awarded the Good Design award from Unit 14.
We had many good discussions about the meaning of the Construction Award in the Good Design Award. Construction awards in general are given for the greatness of a single piece of construction, as an appreciation of the work, but for The Good Design Award, of course the quality of the work is considered, but there are also other points for evaluation, such as "can the design's technique, method and example be widely imitated by everyone in a good sense," and "will the award lead to development in that field that can be expanded on after this."
Construction is not something made just by an architect, but the clients who order it are also important, and the brilliance and sharpness of how questions are raised are reflected in the final manifestation of the construction. I got the impression that in the Good Design Award in particular you could see that that how questions had been raised was included, and it was not just about the works themselves. I felt that the top awards were not about something being made by one person's ability alone, but had to clearly show us what type of things are needed in this era.

Asako: I held a talk session with the designers and people involved with two applications that left with top awards (Ginza Sony Park and Sukagawa Community Center tette) at the awards exhibition, and both of them proposed a new approach to how public spaces should be. Sony Park is a commercial facility made by a corporation so it isn't strictly a public space, while conversely the Community Center is a public facility of the city, and though both are structurally different, we noticed in them that they both shared extremely similar thinking in the way they both had doors to open spaces that are connected to the town in some vague way. Men and women of all ages would casually come by without any special purpose, and the space is actually used as it is so pleasant. I personally think that, despite the differences in the projects, they have become similar in what type of spaces people want in the facility. With Sony Park being praised this time, I think it reflects the emergence of a new era.

Hayashi: In my regular job, I tend to be a planner or on the side of creative people putting forward a case. I felt that since the evaluations in the construction field have become multifaceted and multilayered, I have been chosen as a judge for the Good Design Award.
In the first place, it is a highly difficult job for real estate developers to create an attractive space within the limitations of a project, and express their imaginativeness. However, when a building is going to be constructed in a town, they need a new idea for how to create new value in regards to those limitations, and on top of the cultural and business value of that single building, beyond that they have the challenge of whether they can discover connections to new values for society as a corporation, and I tried my best to judge with these points in mind.
In that sense, there were cases when the evaluation itself couldn't help going beyond the genre of construction. Many of the designs that were chosen for the top awards in the Construction Unit, were the result of including aspects that have not been evaluated in construction up to now. From here on, the genre of construction should increasingly be seen from a viewpoint that is not limited to just the domain conjured up from the word, and I felt as I judged that it is becoming that way.

Ever-Changing Park [Ginza Sony Park] (GOOD DESIGN GOLD AWARD)

Nagayama: The corporation called Sony canceled their plan to construct a building here, and created here a space that was open to everyone instead, which I felt reflected a change of values. The switch to the idea of opening up a space like this in Ginza, which has the highest land price in Japan, helped Sony gain new value. It's a plus for the company and a plus for the town. I hope that from here on, corporations can freely come up with new ways of thinking about value in a variety of patterns.

Community Center [Sukagawa Community Center tette] (GOOD DESIGN GOLD AWARD)

Asako: A combination of a library, an art gallery and something like a child welfare center, which are usually divided up into separate programs, have been incorporated into a large one room building, with floors gently staggered in a three-dimensional design. Actually, integrating three single rooms into a large one room building is very difficult due to problems like noise. This facility uses a truss structure for the core of the floor, which becomes an equipment space and a sound absorption device. It's a structure in which noise generated by the children isn't transmitted to the library. Until now, pictorial representations have been big for construction, but this design has tackled the challenges of the sound domain, which has been neglected up to now, and while it's hard to communicate in a photo, if you actually go there, you can see it's been done very well and the work is of a very high level.

Distillery [MITOSAYA BOTANICAL DISTILLERY] (GOOD DESIGN GOLD AWARD)

Hayashi: The architect in charge of this was Hideyuki Nakayama. Originally the idea was the reconstruction of the existing medicinal herb garden, but the environment itself became the base for an extremely creative new project. While it's a production base for fruit brandy, it's become a place for people to gather together and experience how to brew, as well as a contact point for getting close to nature. The place was highly rated for its comprehensive approach, including its splendid recreation of the local area of Otaki in Chiba prefecture, its creation of jobs and craftsmanship, and its steady promotion of culture. You could also say it was praised for the whole production. One producer (also company president) Hiroshi Eguchi worked in a team with the architect and the technical producer to create a beautiful world.

Asako: This has a sense of making the world you live in by yourselves, and I liked the sort of DIY style it has to it. Currently we're in a transformative period in regard to how we work and how we live, although it's fairly difficult to design everything all by yourself. However, they have managed to do it in an extremely brilliant way. The design was highly rated in the sense of it having created such a place in a modern way.

Complex Building [SHIBUYA STREAM] (GOOD DESIGN BEST100)

Nagayama: The attraction of this item is at one's feet. The shared space is surprisingly opened up in a big way, and of particular note is how it's been opened up towards the Shibuya River, which was originally at the back. I imagine that this was extremely challenging. Originally this was a river that nobody paid much attention to, but while sharing it with Shibuya-ward, they are continually trying to make it better. I think changing everyone's attitude by turning front to back was a really wonderful thing. It's very important for skyscrapers to consider how to create a relationship with their surroundings, and this is a very good example of this.

Brick Wall Plaza and Undefined Open Space Design [COTONIOR GARDEN SHINKAWASAKI] (GOOD DESIGN BEST100)

Asako: Initially when I just saw the photos of this project, I didn't appreciate it, but on the first day of the second screening I dropped by it on my way home. When you actually go and see it, it's an extremely interesting building. While housing complexes, commercial facilities, welfare facilities for the elderly and nursery schools are common, having them all together is difficult. In this project, they are joined together by a kind of street garden, to make a novel combined facility. Roads and a park are joined together in a kind of garden, and in the part where people come and go, walls and benches have been set, so people can stay there. Those walls also act to conceal things away, and as there are multiple programs there, it doesn't create an unpleasant situation even though it's all joined together. Instead, it helps produce an extremely close relationship to the town.
The design itself has some parts that look cosmetic, but in fact each part has been finely calculated as part of the operation, and I think that has to be praised.

Botanical Garden [ART BIOTOP "WATER GARDEN"] (GOOD DESIGN BEST100)

Asako: This is a new landscape, an artificial water's edge. At a glance it looks like natural scenery, but it's an artificially constructed pond. They've created a system that keeps the water there forever, while some flows away little by little, so it looks like a natural phenomenon, but it has been designed and redone to produce a unique new landscape.

Nagayama: This isn't simply a pool of water, as it has all been waterproofed to truly construct a proper pond. Like traditional Japanese gardens, which have been artificially created, this also looks incredibly natural, and this is one more type of scenery created following the thinking of those traditional gardens, and I thought it should be rated as a new expression of that philosophy.

Commercial Complex [MUJI GINZA (Yomiuri Namiki -dori St. Building)] (GOOD DESIGN BEST100)

Hayashi: This should be perceived as a commercial design rather than as construction. With its commercial facilities and customer attracting facilities, it's how a complex facility should be when you talk about forms of retail, although I don't think there's much subject for discussion in terms of architectural evaluation.

Nagayama: As a hotel, it's how a new business hotel should be, even having exhibition space, and as how a complex commercial facility should be, doing it in that place is an interesting idea worthy of praise.

Office/ Community Space [& VILLAGE]

Asako: This is a two-story building, but it looks like a four-story building. Between the first and second floor there is a space, which is a space for lighting, a space for equipment and a space for structures. Movable partitions are extremely expensive, but by lowering the structures a little, you can break up the room with a cheap partition. This was praised for being an extremely ambitious project in the sense that it tried to respond to tangible and intangible problems with some kind of architectural solution.

How should offices be in the future?？

Asako: There were lots of office applications, but not many received the top award. In general, whether its offices for tenants or company owned buildings, a flat floor is provided with versatility in mind, and from that point of view, I feel not much changes in terms of construction. In reality, when we've judged offices in construction up to now, it's based on evaluating the interior space, and to be frank, there's hardly any differences.
The interior is changing due to things like workstyle reforms and free-address offices, where workers can move about without having fixed work desks. The tangible aspects and intangible aspects are working on totally different layers, and I feel they are not being pragmatically linked together. Those on the tangible side should take a little more detailed look at the changes on the intangible side, and consider what kind of building they can propose for this situation, which I think will improve their evaluations. Applications of buildings that have responded to that point appropriately are extremely rare. Changes in workstyle are a worldwide trend so there is an extremely big opportunity, but I guess things aren't changing because of business issues and budget problems. In my opinion, unless there is a change, there will be a continuation of the situation in which the focus is put only on expressive designs, which are difficult to evaluate for the Good Design Award.

Nagayama: There were lots of office applications, but it was difficult to judge as there were only tiny differences between them. For example, there were various attempts to improve energy conservation in buildings as a whole by creating large offices and environments with design differences, but it was hard to find any decisive factors. In comparison with the public design program, the social messages of them also look a little weak.

Hayashi: If you consider developers' situation, it may be difficult to show a flashy construction presentation with offices.
Innovations at one's feet like the "Shibuya Stream" are possible. For example, there are good opportunities in doing something with the intermediate areas, which can add some fun by connecting to the public, add some value for workers there, and add value by gaining respect from the town. I feel that we have yet to see design thinking that skillfully links to an increase in the office's business vale and property value. I think the time has already gone when you can ignore earnings and simply open it up as common space.

Impressive works from the overseas applications

Nagayama: Taiwan's "U-mkt" museum was created by renovating a food storage warehouse. This was a fairly long project, but they were eventually able to construct the place by developing a close relationship with the town and the surroundings. We heard that the staff members have increased the value of the area, while living nearby and developing a good relationship with the neighborhood. I think it's a wonderful example of an activity that has raised the value of an area.

Hayashi: In the current environment it's hard to say that in the future Japan will see an increase in opportunities for challenging construction projects, but I think those involved in construction projects should get better at how they take risks. For risks that are thought to be financially tricky if done normally, it needs to be pointed out that a certain type of return is possible, and I think the discovery of more positive thinking vocabulary is important for when considering risks and returns together. I felt there was an aspect of things being selected that provided some clue about it.