Along the axis of the schools in Gifu City, youth are scattered in spaces around their school or around their residences. Media cosmos has become a more popular hangout location for the youth, however, there are limited activities/spaces designated for the youth alone.
Hence, the new proposal for Municipal hall aims to serve as a Youth Hub that collaborates with the new City Hall and Media Cosmos. This collaboration intends to pull youth across Gifu City to develop new skills and forge new friendships through socialisation. The proposal is for the building to be able to accommodate unstructured social interaction amongst youth and at the same time, provide a space for more structured workshops.
The 2nd floor of the municipal hall has a link bridge that is connected to the 2nd floor of the new city hall – enhancing the collaboration.
The spaces in the municipal hall are divided into two. Namely, the L block as a more private space for structured activities, and the cylindrical space as a common gathering space.
The L-block spaces are further subdivided in a way that attempts to integrate multiple workshops across each level with a seamless circulation.
The cylindrical space, on the other hand, aims to remodel the current auditorium in the Municipal Hall into a casual stage setting with inspiration from roman theatres. This design hopes to encourage social interaction amongst youth and at the same time, be a space to showcase their newly developed talents.
The basement of Municipal hall will be used as a material storage space whilst retaining its current function as a loading bay. A new lift has also been added to enhance the transportation of woodworking materials to the Maker Space.
Level 1 has 2 side entrances and 1 main entrance. The aim of multiple entrances is to enhance accessibility from both sides of the building to the L-block and the cylindrical space. There will be a woodworking exhibition on the side entrance as youth proceed to make their way up the spiral staircase into the Maker space in level 2. The main entrance and side entrance ( cylinder ) will be kept open even after the opening hours of the building to ensure the Art Studio exhibits are available anytime of the day.
The entrance from the 2nd floor of the new City Hall leads straight to the Cafe. The Culinary Spaces and Kitchen are next to the Cafe to better the circulation throughout these spaces. The glass facade transforms the Cafe into a viewing deck. Furthermore, the Multimedia Studio’s location eases the transportation of props/instruments down to the casual stage.
The roof serves as a space for horticultural activities with a staircase extension that leads straight into the Culinary space.
Original source from: http://asd.courses.sutd.edu.sg/option-studio-one/2020/10/30/youth-hub-municipal-hall/