A proposal to architectural design competition for Chapel Fellowship Hall Competition for Keisen Girls’ School in Tokyo, Japan. The scheme remained as one of 5 finalists.
Celebrating its 100th anniversary, Keisen Girls’ School sought to rebuild Fellowship Hall to serve as a chapel for rituals or school events, and occasionally open to its neighbors for public programs.
One of the educational basis of Keisen lies on ’gardening,’ for which students are assigned to grow plants in the school ground, forming a park-like square in the suburban neighborhood. We suggested a chapel that conveys such theme of ‘life’ that circulates throughout the school and further extends to the town. Considering the composition of the campus encircling the central atrium, as well as the balance with the neighboring houses, a ‘green gate’ facade towards the atrium aligns with other school buildings, while the ‘hall’ smoothly connects to the town with a series of catenary roofs. The gate, flourished with natural light and vine plants overhead, stands as a symbolic figure of the academy and provides a threshold of the chapel. It also holds stages in case of events, integrating the hall and atrium. The hall is comparably more tranquil, creating somewhat sacred atmosphere, especially during the morning prayer with lights permeating from the slits between the curved roofs and the dimming glass at the altar facing the rear garden to the east.
Students are engaged to take charge of the plants of the new hall, from developing seedlings during the construction phase, so they actively participate and feel involved in creating their own chapel. As we named the place ‘Spring Hall,’ meaning both the blooming season and fountain as in the name of the school, we designed in hopes that it would become a place for girls to grow their potential and promising future to be sprung.
Location：Setagaya, Tokyo, Japan／Program：Chapel, Auditorium／Site area：17977.25m2／Building area：1600m2／Total floor area：1600m2／Structure・Scale：Steel flame, 2F
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