This project evolved entirely from my initial observation on site: the feeling of being miniature against the scale of the surrounding skyscrapers. When compared with an understanding of a typical Onsen as a place made up of intimate components, the response was to create a room through the arrangement of forms. So the gradually diminishing urban volumes surrounding the site were inverted and gave way to a set of sections that are taller at the periphery. These would act as the basis for the project.
The spatial arrangements build upon the idea of rescaling the city, situating a level of abstraction between body and environment - as can be noted through the extruded furniture and minor elevational shifts between different bathing areas and circulation routes. Objects are treated as layered surfaces to provoke endless shifts between perceiver and perceived.
While the form evokes a micro city, the atmosphere is light and ambiguous. An interest in confrontations between differing climatic zones and how they react would drive the majority of formal decisions beyond the initial massing study. For example, by understanding prevailing winds for the site, street corridors are articulated to maximize the effect of cool dry air reaching hot moist surfaces to create a cloud-like effect. Meanwhile floating volumes capture steam and heated concrete around pools add to this atmosphere.
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