| Title of work | Sawara〜a waterside which is vanishing. Now, a method to create suchi waterside〜 |
| Concept of the work | A hollow in the hills of Okakusatsu-Kuni Village contains an eerie watery environment which seems to have been sewn with a complicated pattern of bands of water and vegetation. The wondrous view of this peculiar watery landscape was my inspiration for the concept of Sawara. My proposal focuses on farmland which has become desolate after being abandoned by people. The proposal is a method which is based on the concept of Sawara and enables people to work directly to improve the ground. I realized that the important factors of a Sawara environment are a nonlinear landscape and a ground which is filled with apertures. I then used these factors as design conditions to devise the landscape engineering method of "banded artificial ground". This method refers to the nonlinear landscape which is realized by weaving bands into artificially created soil. The method aims to control the pattern of water bands. Wood is used as the frame material in the banded artificial ground. The gaps in the frame material are filled with marine sponges that contain many apertures. All of these materials can be absorbed back into the earth. The design used in banded artificial ground features a program which assimilates the artificial ground with the surrounding nature. |
| Judge's Comment | Japanese civil engineering has destroyed the majority of natural scenery. I would like to offer strong support for a proposal to recreate the banded patterns which have been lost from natural scenery. However, I also feel that it would be difficult to use manmade products to artificially create a natural ecosystem which is self-perpetuating. There is also concern that the ecosystem would actually become unbalanced through the introduction of manmade products. I would like the designer to give further consideration to a method for invigorating the self-revitalizing ability and ecosystem power which is inherent in nature. |
| Name of Applicant | Ai Narita |  |
| Year of Birth | 1984 | |
| Gender | Male | |
| Nationality | Japan | |
| Occupation | Jun Mitsui & Associates Inc. Architects / Pelli Clarke Pelli Architects Japan, Inc. | |
| Academic History | Graduate School of Nagaoka Institute of Design | |