Shinonome Canal Court CODAN
Tokyo, Japan · 2003
Photo · Tomio Ohashi
A precedent for high-density residential podium design, utilizing timber decking, circular lawns, and integrated lightwells to break down the scale of a massive housing block courtyard.
- What we like about this project
- The circular lawn is sharply bisected by a rectangular sunken courtyard, creating a nested geometric contrast.
Materials
- timber-decking
- concrete
- turf
- steel-railings
- glass
Visual identifiers
- elevated-deck
- circular-lawn
- sunken-courtyard
- timber-planking
- high-density-housing
Style tags
- modernist
- high-density
- japanese-modernism
Visual tags
- podium-landscape
- communal-space
- urban-courtyard
- multi-level
- residential-plaza
- Geometry
- A multi-level courtyard layout featuring a large circular lawn cut by a rectangular lightwell, flanked by curved concrete ramps and framed by high-density residential towers.
- Facade system
- Modular concrete and glass window-wall system with integrated balconies.
- Structural guess
- Reinforced concrete podium structure supporting landscaped deck loads.
- Spatial scale
- Large-scale communal courtyard surrounded by multi-story apartment buildings.
- Lighting
- Even, diffused daylight casting soft shadows across the timber deck and lawns.
- Atmosphere
- A clean, structured, and quiet urban oasis nestled between towering residential facades.
- Environmental context
- High-density urban residential development in Tokyo, Japan.
- Spatial experience
- The elevated deck acts as a pedestrian plaza, offering visual connections to lower levels through lightwells and ramps while creating a communal green space between massive residential blocks.
- Composition rhythm
- Symmetrical framing by residential towers with organic circular and diagonal geometries cutting through the central deck.
- Style reading
- Japanese high-density modernism
- Program
- Residential public plaza and courtyard
- Perspective
- Aerial/Site
- Discipline
- urban
- Materials
- timber-decking, concrete, turf, steel-railings, glass
- Visual identifiers
- elevated-deck, circular-lawn, sunken-courtyard, timber-planking, high-density-housing
- Style tags
- modernist, high-density, japanese-modernism
- Visual tags
- podium-landscape, communal-space, urban-courtyard, multi-level, residential-plaza
- Geometry
- A multi-level courtyard layout featuring a large circular lawn cut by a rectangular lightwell, flanked by curved concrete ramps and framed by high-density residential towers.
- Facade system
- Modular concrete and glass window-wall system with integrated balconies.
- Structural guess
- Reinforced concrete podium structure supporting landscaped deck loads.
- Spatial scale
- Large-scale communal courtyard surrounded by multi-story apartment buildings.
- Lighting
- Even, diffused daylight casting soft shadows across the timber deck and lawns.
- Atmosphere
- A clean, structured, and quiet urban oasis nestled between towering residential facades.
- Environmental context
- High-density urban residential development in Tokyo, Japan.
- Spatial experience
- The elevated deck acts as a pedestrian plaza, offering visual connections to lower levels through lightwells and ramps while creating a communal green space between massive residential blocks.
- Composition rhythm
- Symmetrical framing by residential towers with organic circular and diagonal geometries cutting through the central deck.
- Style reading
- Japanese high-density modernism
- Program
- Residential public plaza and courtyard
- Perspective
- Aerial/Site
- Discipline
- urban