NJ27_web

4/40

PERSPECTIVES特集│木質建築の可能性 感性に訴えかける建築を目指してFeature | Pushing the Possibilities for Architecture in Wood Toward Architecture that Appeals to the SensibilitiesBack to WoodIt is said that most Japanese are partial to architecture built of wood and are apparently very proud of its long and distinguished history in their country, and I am among them. So I was taken aback when a young foreign student challenged me, saying: “Japan boasts about its tradition of wooden architecture but all its wooden buildings are ancient! There isn’t a stick of wood in the new buildings in city centers. Does that mean Japanese aren’t interested in preserving those old traditions?”That was in early 2000.Most of us in the architectural profession at that time assumed that there was no way that large-scale buildings such as those found in city centers could be built of wood. We did think, however, that if wood could be used in urban architecture, it would make the cities much more appealing. Wood, moreover, is a natural material that comes from trees planted by human hands and capable of absorbing and fixing the carbon dioxide churned out by our cities in an extremely beautiful form. By using wood, we not only help to sequester CO2 but promote the maintenance and healthy environment of the forests that cover more than half of our country’s territory. When we looked into what is being done in other countries, we found that those, like Japan, that had long traditions of wooden architecture—Scandinavia, Germany, Switzerland, and so on—were launching various experiments designed to find ways to make timber-constructed large-scale urban architecture a reality. The idea of reviving wood was already growing into an international movement from the viewpoints of architectural design, construction, and building management. From around 木材の復権多くの日本人は「木造建築」を好み、その伝統を誇りと感じているそうです。私もそんな一人でしたが、日本にやってきた留学生の一言にショックを受けました。「日本は木造建築の伝統を自慢しているが、木造は古い建築ばかりで、都心部の新しい建築に木造建築は皆無。日本人は木造建築の伝統を守っていく気はないのですか？」　2000年初頭のことでした。　当時の状況は、建築家の私たちですら、都心部の大型建築を木造化できるはずはないと思い込んでいた状態でした。確かに大型建築を木造で実現したら、都市の大型建築は、より人々に愛されるものになり得るかもしれません。　また、天然素材である木材は、人の手により植樹され、我々が都市的活動で排出する二酸化炭素を極めて美しい姿に固定してくれる環境素材です。使うことでCO2が固定されるのみならず、国土の過半を占める山林の健全な環境が保たれる素材でもあるのです。　海外の状況を調べてみると、日本と同様に木造建築の伝統をもthat time, various improvements have been made in Japan as far as legal frameworks, expansion of subsidies, and the like, and wood-related technological development had been progressing.─From Just “Liking” to Logical ChoiceBut using wood simply because we “like” it isn’t enough. Something more is needed to make wood feasible for large-scale urban architecture, which performs a major economic role and mission in society. Rather than fixating only on the use of wood, we need to think of “wood-based architecture” that is both economically logical from the viewpoints of building costs and maintenance and technologically logical in terms of such qualities as safety and resistance to fire.Since early 2000, Nikken Sekkei has been taking the lead in the revival of wood in urban architecture. Through scientific reappraisal of wood, we aim to pioneer the shift from wood as a preference to wood as the logical choice for architecture.─Using the Right Material for the Right PlaceNikken Sekkei’s Mokuzai Kaikan, completed in 2009, was the first fruit of these initiatives, and the idea governing that building was “use the right material in the right place.” This phrase is much used in Japan, mainly in the context of human resources (assigning the right person to the right job), but it actually derives from traditional temple and shrine architecture, in which carpenters selected the type of wood and the specific trees best suited for each part of a structure taking into account the dynamics of the sites where wood is used.For example, in the Mokuzai Kaikan, the tactile and non-heat つ北欧やドイツ、スイスなどで、都市の大型建築を木造で実現すべく、種々の試みが始められている状況でした。「木材の復権」が、建築の設計、施工、施設運営の視点から、国際的なテーマとなり始めていたのです。　以来、日本でも法的な整備や補助金の拡充、関連技術の開発が進められてきました。─「好き」から「合理的」にしかし、単に木造が好きだというだけでは、経済的に大きな活動であり、社会的な使命を担った大型建築の木造化が進むわけはありません。木造化だけにこだわるのではなく、建設コストやメンテナンス性といった経済合理性と、安全性や耐火性能といった技術的な合理性を踏まえた「木質建築」こそが必要なはずです。　日建設計では、2000年初頭から木材を科学的に見つめ直し、木造建築を「好き」から、「合理的」な木質建築へと転換することで、他に先駆けて都市建築における木材の復権を進めてきました。042016 Summer 27Feature | Pushing the Possibilities for Architecture in Wood

※このページを正しく表示するにはFlashPlayer10.2以上が必要です