Seattle DOJO

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Seattle DOJO

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The first of two iterations. From the beginning of the design process, the vision for the martial arts studio was one of numerous facets and a product of many ideas. Some of the first approaches to the project were to look at floating the building in concrete forms to give the illusion of a lightweight design. This was taken further into studying the way we could create a sense of balance within the structure, which eventually grounded the project and eliminated the need for a floating structure. This lead to many other possibilities; qualities of opacity, austerity of structure as an act to encase the martial arts space, and furthermore looking into the art of the fight itself. All being products of the pre-site visit, the location was the ultimate determinant. What became a prevalent idea amongst the masses was the use of the “L” as a way to define the site. What it was that created the draw was what I wanted to find out. What came out of this was much confusion as to why there is a need to fill the site with structure and completely eliminate a grounded garden. I chose to go with the portion of the site abutting sixth street for the building but still no design had formulated other than some obscure and pointless shapes that “looked cool” but did nothing in terms of relationships or even for testing the mind. Finally a question was asked to me in conjunction with an observation, “Is your building large enough to fit the square footage? Everyone seems to be using the L, why not the L?” I looked around and found that the “L” may potentially be beautiful but yet carried the price of mass. Although it may fill the site in plan, it kills the overall scale of the neighborhood. Like King Kong towering over the streets of New York, the “L” (if oversized) plays that same role upon the bank. So the first move is to use the “L” against itself, literally pick it up out of the ground, scale it to size, then rotate the “L” 90 degrees over the portion of site in use. Depending upon material choice, this move no longer acts to scale down the larger mass but more to bring the height of the new structure in harmony with its surroundings. By utilizing the original weight of the structure prior to movement, the weight is used theoretically to plant the building within the site and anchor it into position. Now the building is clearly defined but now comes the matter of what to do with the structure it holds. The initial reaction to this was to make the resulting building a product of the “L” frame, which created a sensible space but yet lacked energy and produced a pancaking effect with the floors in the structure. The building worked, but would you want to go it and does it facilitate the art? After much research two ideas came to mind, one on the macro scale dealing with organization and creation of the space and form, the other concerning with perception of space, primarily performance and practice areas. The alternative to the product of the structure is to act against it and create the harmony within the spaces between. Based on a theory by Kurokawa on “Rikyu Grey”, the building attempts to reflect upon this issue and create space that is not only functional but can be engaging at the same time, thus creating the energy desired from first visions. The theory is a product of the symbiosis of two contradictory elements placed together but never fully engaging one-another. By doing this, the elements never become a whole, they very much refuse to, creating a two-dimensional nature within the context of the space. This being a often seen quality of the style, the two-dimensional nature of the building and its surfaces results in an energized void that tends to always contradict itself, creating a space that is truly engaging for the visitor. By creating the spaces upon these principles the materials then become a critical part of the whole. My process will take a mimetic approach to the subject by keeping texture and pattern and even repetition to a minimum, resulting in what I believe to be a space that will both educational to the visitor but also create a rather timeless and even spiritual quality to the space.Finally, what is important is the act of martial arts or just the art in general. I studied video clips, stills, texts, and I found that what I believe to be the most important factor within the art lies in the eye. Before ever match, before in physical act is even performed, there always seemed to be this stare or even glare of the eye to the opposing individual. This I believe is the point at which concentration is at its height and there is nothing but focus. It can be argued that the artist may have these traits within the fight but I feel that it never fully matches the point before the bout has even begun. It is crucial that we exploit this ideal and make the spaces for the art about this focus. To accomplish this task, spaces for performance and practice remain simple in treatment, monotone in color, texture is limited or eliminated altogether, geometries remain simple, resulting in a space that is meant to be distraction free and be about the art, not about the building becoming the art.

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Michael Friebele

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Seattle DOJO

Seattle DOJO

Product Spec Sheet

Collaborating Firms

Team