Tosa City Cultural Complex

Tosa-city, Kochi, Japan

Photo © Kai Nakamura

Architects: MARU.architecture

Location: Tosa-city, Kochi, Japan
Year: 2019

It is a cultural complex that combines six functions: a library, a hall, a community center, an exhibition of local materials, a social welfare center, and a chamber of commerce and industry.
Takaoka-cho, Tosa City, has a long history as a market town along the Nakamura Kaido, an old highway, where people and goods are actively streamed during the Edo era. Even today, the town's shopping streets and other cultural activities, such as festivals and Sunday markets,are held around the "road. In addition, a waterway called "Isuji," which is drawn from the Niyodo River, runs throughout the town and has supported people's lives by providing water for daily use and industrial water for the production of Japanese paper.
We focused on the "Michi" culture of Takaoka's "streets" and "Isuji" waterways where connected the multiple functions of the city with "Michi ", where is full of activities and people can interact with each other, such as trading and children's playground. By drawing the Michi space from the city and connecting it in three dimensions, we have planned a facility where people can encounter a variety of citizen activities while walking around the facilities.