道の駅 森の三角ぼうし 拡張計画

Kihoku-cho, a small town in the south of Ehime Prefecture, is known for its unique approach to local revitalization under the banner of "the town where oni (ogres) live." This project is a plan to expand Mori-no-Sankaku-Boushi (Triangular Hat in a Forest), a michi-no-eki (roadside station) set in the town's mountains.

The task committed by the client first brought was simple: to add more parking utilizing the vacant hilltop on the southern side of the existing built area. The station was drawing more visitors than originally expected, and its lot had grown too small. The site set aside for the new parking was, however, more than ten meters above the zone where the station's buildings stand. Simply putting a parking lot up there would add almost nothing new in terms of placeness or landscape between the two zones. It would amount to a merely functional expansion, one that left the facility without a sense of unity. So rather than just linking the two zones with a passage, we proposed rebuilding the entire station to give it new appeal, making use of the land's dramatic rise and fall just as it is.

At the heart of the plan is a grand stairway set into the slope that separates the old and new sites. With a gentle incline and a generous width, it serves as the site's "main street," naturally drawing visitors' eyes and feet. It also clearly separates pedestrians from cars, making the walk itself an exciting experience, and in turn it would give rise to a new, lively landscape.

The cuts and retaining walls required by the earthworks are used directly as the building's structure. Cave-like interior spaces below ground hold shops and a gallery, and the large roof above shelters a local market and places to rest. By treating civil engineering and architecture as one continuous whole, the plan aims to create new content and a new landscape at modest cost, and a place with the presence of a new landmark.

Nor did we treat the parking lot on the hill as merely a place to leave cars. It is wrapped in an arc of stepped terraces that make use of the existing embankment, and on festival and event days those steps become the seating of an amphitheater. A space that works as a parking lot on ordinary days turns into a town square on days of celebration.

As bad timing would have it, the COVID-19 pandemic began the year after the proposal, and the plan was put on hold. It has yet to be realized.