Chabohiba Hall | Tokyo, Japan |2015

Architects: Satoshi Okada architects Inc.
Client: Chabohiba Hall
Contractor: Nihon Kensetsu
Structural Engineers: S3 Associates Inc.
Photographers: Satoshi Shigeta

Chabohiba hall is deeply rooted in the community of the Saiwaichō neighborhood in western Tokyo.

It is conceived for concerts, exhibitions and any cultural activity involving the local society. Its spatial configuration is shaped around a powerful fulcrum: in the middle of the site an ancient pine tree has been preserved as a living memory of the local history.

The auditorium is designed to host one hundred people and to foster the highest appreciation of the musical performance; the space can be freed entirely by means of a series of swing wooden panels that separate it from the foyer: when opened, these enhance a horizontal unobstructed view of the garden and of the pine tree.

To tighten the relationship between the building and land it belongs to, every pre-existing element has been reused within the project, such as the water filling the outdoor basin and the stones that now shape a pacific rock garden stretched along the concert hall.