Japan Visitor Center
Yahima-Sanjou is a park, which connects different cultural and tourist programs in a public parkour. The view onto the Seto Inland Sear and its many islands is a spectacular scenic experience. The parkour offers the opportunity to experience the vast landscape and maritime space at various locations. The new Mountaintop Facility building continues the concept of space experience as panoramic path. View and motion are combined to create a common architectural and scenographic type of space. A circular passage stages both the perspective of the individual, as well as the idea of a centered collective experience. The house becomes a panoramic house.
The building is vaguely reminiscent of the typology of built panoramas. These buildings were designed as circular structures to represent historical events and landscapes in painted form. Through a visual medium, the view and the memory of historical events at this location can then be connected to a 360 degree experience. Like a compass, the new building serves as an orientation and allows for a simple chronological description of events.
The building has a flexible floor plan. Similar to a covered landscape, different areas can be passed through. All infrastructural functions such as elevators, technical rooms and storage units are set on the inside of the circular building. Depending on future requirements, further infrastructure can be added to the existing structure. Similar to a furnished space, the spatial sequence can be adapted and changed as required.
