小樽国际信息中心丨日本丨waiwai

Architects:waiwai

Area:670m²

Year:2024

Photographs:Takehiro Kawamura

Construction:Fukushima Construction Company

Design:waiwai (Kazuma Yamao, Genta Sawai, Ayami Otsuki)

Structure:Hirotsugu Tsuboi Structural Engineering (Hirotsugu Tuboi)

Equipment:Comodo Engineering (Naohisa Yamashita, Tomoyuki Matsui, Shiori Ueno)

Lighting:Izumi Okayasu Lighting Design (Izumi Okayasu)

City:Otaru

Country:Japan

Text description provided by the architects. The Otaru International Information Center is located in the harbor area of Otaru in Hokkaido, once the heart of Japan's herring fishing industry. With the decline of the fisheries, redevelopment was planned in order to revitalize the area around the port.

The information center features an assemblage of pillars arranged across the roof line at a 45-degree angle in the direction of the future harbor, expanding the space beyond the physical boundaries. The rooftop deck is meant as a shared space to invite people to gradually return to the harbor and reinvigorate it.

Project gallery

Project location

Address:Otaru, Japan