Built in the Tokyo’s residential neighborhood, Ogikubo, OMIYAMAE GYMNASIUM is a sport facility to aim the local residents healthy lifestyles. The complex was designed not to overwhelm the surrounding residences, its height is limited to 5 meters above the ground; the main arena is located at 6.64 meters below, and the swimming pool is 2.49 meters under the ground. Therefore the volume of the buildings itself remains subtle. Also the contour of the site is not secured by the fences. Instead, the site acts as a communal green piazza that is open both daytime and nighttime, where two ellipsis of the arena and the swimming pool buildings are allowing the locals trespassing without creating dead corners. Their rooftop vegetation are planned to preserve the regional greenery of Musashino, the district west of Tokyo.
Continuous of the environment of the surrounding area, its goal is not to simply assimilate into but to prompt the distinct charm hidden in the neighborhood. And those should be found by the locals spontaneously. Avoiding to complete with architectural purity in its design, it is intended to be inclusive of the un-foreseeing events and happenings in future.
The four ginko trees symbolizes the history of the site – they are preserved from the former elementary school that stood at the site – and now the pivotal element that embodies the locale.

Photo: DAICI ANO