■ the “contemporary Hakkaku-do(octagonal hall)”
“Hakkaku-do (octagonal hall)” with octagonal (eight-sided) plan, occasionally appears as a style of the traditional religious architecture in Japan.
“Hakkaku-do,” which has the axis on the concentric circles extended from the center of the building, looks identical in each angle. It means the site is effective when it is totally open to its surroundings.
Two streets run north and south of the site. This approaches allows people to see the building in various angles.
Also, we intended to make this building play the role, not only functionally, but visually as pharmacy that is necessary program in the community.
Therefore, this project was aimed at being the modern version of the “Hakkaku-do (octagonal hall)” in consideration of its program and function as pharmacy, where human life’s related, as well as its site conditions.
As building management, the manager of the pharmacy should sit in center and have no dead angle to the entire space. It means that plan with concentric circles, which is easy to provide entire view efficiently, is appropriate for this program. And because “perpendicular grid” is the standard method for wooden structure today, this method is advantageous in budget, construction period and its cost.
After the analysis, we concluded to apply “circle” character in the plan and “perpendicular grid” in the structure. Then, finally we realized the “octagon” make this two characters happen simultaneously.
So, we could realize the modern version of the “Hakkaku-do (octagonal hall)” as landmark in the area, by adopting the octagonal (eight-sided) plan in the site plan, the plan and the structure as a modern standard of construction method.
■ Circle + Square =Octagon
a “circle” consisted of r (radius) on the concentric circles from center
a “square” consisted of x=y on plan of perpendicular grid
In the plan, manager sits in the center, no dead angle and short circulation. This reflects the character of “circle,” which is easy to manage. The structure reflects the character of the “perpendicular grid,” which is advantageous in budget, construction period and cost.
The “octagon” created by superimposing “circle” and “square.” Octagon works well with the concentric circular grid and perpendicular grid and it can establish the character of circle and square spontaneously.
■ data
name: the "contemporary Hakkaku-do(octagonal hall)"
program: ethical pharmacy
architects: nano Architects
project architects: yasuhiro shinano
site area: 521 sqm
total floor area: 133 sqm
photography: Yasunori Hidaka