*무주공간을 우드프레임, 복싱클럽-[ FT ARCHITECTS ] BOXING CLUB

Medium-span, Column-free 

궁도(활쏘기) 홀과 복싱 클럽을 갖춘 2개의 건물에서 설계된 도쿄 Kogakuin 대학에서 이루어진 프로젝트다. 대학은 저비용 구조물을 통해 학생들이 쉽게 접근할 수 있고 이 곳에서 영감을 불러일으킬 수 있는 공간이 될 수 있기 위해 현지의 목재로 만들어 주길 바랬다. 그래서 전통적인 일본 사원에 있을 법한 성스런 강당과 비교할 만한 7.2미터*10.8미터 크기의 기둥이 없는 공간을 설계하게 되었다.

이 곳에 기둥도 없고, 저비용의 목재 건설 방식을 사용하기 위해 혁신적인 목재 솔루션을 생각해 내야 했다. The project consists of two buildings, an archery hall and a boxing club, standing a few hundred meters apart on the grounds of Kogakuin University in west Tokyo.

The formal rituals of Kyudo (Japanese archery) and the very physical nature of boxing may appear worlds apart. However, surprisingly, the two built facilities share a number of commonalities. 

The University’s brief was for low-cost structures made of locally sourced timber to provide accessible and inspiring spaces for the students. By chance, both facilities called for a column-free space of 7.2m by 10.8m, a size that is comparable to a sacred hall in a traditional Japanese temple. In order to achieve this span, without columns and using low-cost methods of timber construction, it was necessary to come up with an innovative timber solution. We began the project by investigating a number of structural forms that would be appropriate for each sport.

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Underlying Principles 

Through collaborative exploration with timber experts, from researchers, manufacturers to suppliers, we derived at timber materials that are not commonly associated with structural or architectural usage. Small timber sections, normally reserved for furniture making, were chosen for the archery hall, and timber members deemed defected because of insect damage, for the boxing club. 

We have salvaged the purity of traditional Japanese timber composition, simply made up of horizontals and verticals, which has been somewhat disregarded ever since the advent of modernism in Japan. Delicate lattice frame composed of slender ties beams and posts for the archery hall, and a bolder, stepped frame, was employed for the boxing club. Here, timber, a historical material, has been reanalysed and transformed into a new building material.

Contrast/Complement 

The two structures have been constructed employing a simple, lo-tech method of bolt-and-nut assembly. However, due to the scale of the space and simplicity of construction, the execution had to be meticulous, in order to produce spaces that are out of the ordinary.

For each building, the main subject is the 7.2m x 10.8m space and the timber structure, merely its backdrop. The powerful presence of the timber structure emphasises the stark transparency of the void below. The whole is only achieved by the juxtaposition of these two contrasting and complementing qualities. 

Departing from the same starting point, the two buildings have arrived at a shared architectural theme via two different structural and spatial solutions. 

from divisare