The liveliness and freshness of this Springtecture H is located in a small park in Shingu-cho, a densely built-up area in the mountains of Hyogo Prefecture, sandwiched between new primary and secondary schools and one hour by high-speed train from Osaka. Public lavatories are required to provide convenience, based on openness, and security, deriving from enclosure. This small 119 sq m building demonstrates that prestigious architecture can be created even from a washroom, a landmark that changing the landscape around them and having their own influence on contemporary architecture.

The dramatic form grows out of the nature of the material and, once seen, seems natural, logical and economical. But the Springtecture H form is entirely new, and has mysterious echoes of the geometrical complexities revealed by modern science. As Shuhei Endo says, “Springtecture architecture is not composed of roof, wall, pillar girder and slab… it is another architecture completed by original thought.” As the functional program requires an economical ‘open’ scheme yet a formal appearance of a ‘closed’ environment to give the user a sense of security, the architectural concept was to create a link between it through the continuity of the material.

The characteristics of the ‘open’ are essentially the possibility of free passage which Shuhei Endo supplies in three directions: a janitor’s room and toilets for men and women, yet has no single clearly-defined entrance. Instead, a system of forked pathways meets in the center of the coils, each leading to the various spaces which are separated and defined by battered, translucent glass infill panels. Each wet area is created as a simple orthogonal brick structure that sits lightly inside each coil. Shelter (the sense of being closed in) is provided by the sheets of steel enveloping the visitor and accompanying the visitor from the outdoors in. This duality is a part of the style which architect Shuhei Endo defines as ‘halftecture’, which introduces outdoor space into the Springtecture H construction.

The Springtecture H structure takes the basic form of a large spiral, a very dramatic form which nonetheless arises out of the nature of the material and appears very logical and natural in its place. The idea was to create a link between open and closed spaces through the exploration and celebration of the potential of a commonplace product: galvanized corrugated metal in thickness of 3.2 mm, with gate shaped auxiliary materials partially inserted. The material is an industrial product that its structural strength is long-lasting and recyclable. The sheets are of standard size, and the structure was erected directly on the site with nuts and bolts.

The Springtecture H is a small attempt towards a new architecture realized by continuous interplay between the interior and the exterior, challenging architectural norms expected by the observer, and suggesting a new, heterogeneous architectural form. What are walls inside become ceilings and floors on the outside, continuing into external walls and roofs, the coil back into the interior. It is a series of fluid changes without distinguishing them as elements. The project has earned considerable awards: it won the ar+d “World’s Leading Emerging Architecture” price in 2000, awarded by “The Architectural Review” magazine, and was one of ten finalists for the Borromini award for young architects in 2001.

[Show as slideshow]