White Grid - Prescription for the Cityscape
A medical tenant building located in Shibuya-ku, Tokyo, houses restaurants and a pharmacy on the first and second floors, with clinics occupying the setback third to fifth floors. The site sits amidst the typical cityscape of a cluttered shopping street near a station, where competing signs dominate the view. The design pursued a facade that combines flexibility and neutrality to navigate this "sea of symbols" while ensuring visibility as a medical building.
The lower portion of the facade, which draws attention in the narrow shopping street, consists of a white grid frame and glass. The design embodies three types of "crossings"—structural crossings of steel members, white crosses symbolizing medicine, and the flow of users who bring vitality to the space—materialized as a simple white grid in the cityscape. During the daytime, when clinics are busiest, the building takes on the appearance of a white cross, with reflections of the shopping street in the glass softening the gaze into the interior. At night, when restaurants are lively, the large glass panels framed by the grid function as a showcase, inviting the attention of passers-by. Over time, as it mediates the gaze of others, the white grid continuously engages with the cityscape.
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