Shichigahama was designated as “The International Seminar House” as part of a leading project from the Ministry of Home Affairs. The plan in the beginning was conceived as an international exchange program, based on the viewpoint that “real nationalisation is to develop original aspects of Shichigahala.” The direction “to have more townspeople to actively participating in the program” was proposed. In addition to this, cohesion with a sister city (Plymouth City in U.S.A) was also proposed and became an important element in composing the program.
The Kokusaimura consists of seven zones including administration, workshops, seminar, multipurpose hall, restaurant, gallery, common zones, and the machine room of annex and the Plymouth house. In the composition of the plan, in order to express function and characteristic property of every seven zones, the positioning of vista from indoor was examined, and the segmentation was attempted by skylight and light core.
The corridor and reflecting pool are continuously connected with each zone as part of a sequence. The architecture sits among the knolls, nestled in the landscape. The whole view was intended to be invisible obstructed by existing trees.
The multipurpose hall is octagonal in form, which is a small hall containing 577 seats, intended to afford the views of “Syobuta Beach” on the back stage. In addition an open-air “amphitheatre” was planned for small concerts which can be enjoyed from the restaurant.
Location: Shichigahama, Japan
Principal use: Hall, seminar house
restaurant and gallery
Finished time: 1993.6
Site area: 69.911 m²
Ttotal floor area: 4.777 m²
Structure: reinforced concrete(rigid frame)
steel structure(roof of hall)
1 story partly 3 stories
