What changes/what doesn't change in cities seen through relationships
Environmental color design for "new urban development" [Part 2]

Well, in civil engineering structures that are required to be designed to last 100 years, I think that deterioration that is not positive aging is common. I would like to think about what is desirable for civil engineering structures in the future.

​The Ryukan Sakura Bridge (see map above), which spans the Nihonbashi River, won the Encouragement Award of the Japan Society of Civil Engineers Design Awards in 2019. The color was also carefully chosen to "harmonize with the surrounding structures, including redeveloped buildings, and is a silver-gray color that will not show dirt for a long time."​

It stands as one answer to urban bridges. The natural stone pavement underfoot, the elevated road in the background, and the connected glass elevators are all made of neutral materials and colors. The aim is to make it blend in with the city as infrastructure. As a painted finish, it is not something that will "soak up time" but rather requires regular repainting, but here too, by using colors that are less susceptible to aging, it seems that ingenuity has been put into maintaining the beauty for a long time. The idea of "selecting materials that are less susceptible to time, based on function" is exactly the same for office buildings, and they are required to be sturdy enough to stand the test of time.

Comparing the bridge pillars with the color sample, we can see that there is some yellow in the gray. If it were completely neutral (achromatic), it would tend to look bluish in contrast to the surroundings. Even when combined with natural stone paving, natural stone is a mineral, so a color with a slight yellow tint goes better with it than a completely neutral color. Concrete and ceramics also have a slight yellow tint. I think this color was chosen to harmonize with these materials.

Are there not many situations where N-style is considered better?

That's right. There are hardly any "perfect N"s in nature, and there are only a few colors. The four colors selected by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism as landscape-conscious colors (dark gray, dark brown, gray beige in the 10YR [yellow-red] hue range, and off-gray that blends well with cityscapes that are not based on the YR range; designated in the "Guidelines for Road Accessories that Consider the Landscape" [October 2017, Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism]) are mostly yellow-red or have a yellowish tint. Manufacturers are also developing products in landscape-conscious colors as standard colors, making it easier to coordinate the "ground" colors of infrastructure.

There isn't much sunlight under the Shuto Expressway, but it doesn't seem like it's as simple as just using bright colors because it's dark.

When renovating housing complexes, you can easily see the difference in how colors look on the north and south sides. For example, on the north side, simply increasing the brightness can make it look dim if there is nothing to compare it to. So, instead of making everything pale white, we use low-brightness colors in some areas, which allows us to maintain the difference in shade regardless of the illuminance of the surroundings. This contrast makes it possible to clearly define the unevenness and the entranceway, so we make sure to take the brightness difference into account.

On the other hand, how should we consider the colors of structures when they are surrounded by natural elements such as rivers and mountains? A bright red bridge that stands out among the mountains may not look the same in a city.

A big difference between cities and areas with lots of nature is the number of surrounding environmental elements. When looking at a bridge in an area with lots of nature, the viewpoint is pretty much constant and the surrounding elements are limited. Even if the bridge structure is highlighted in bright red, the green, autumn leaves, and snowy scenery in the background complement it. On the other hand, cities are filled with a variety of things such as buildings and signs, and the environment itself is also changing due to moving cars, traffic lights, and construction work. When a new bridge is built there, should it really be made the main attraction and "attractive"? The relationship between "seeing" and being seen is very different between urban landscapes and natural landscapes.

There used to be a plan for "Seven-Colored Bridges" over the Sumida River, and each bridge was painted in a flashy color. It was hard to say that they stood out in the cityscape, so in 2018 the plan was revised to include a reconsideration of their historical value as reconstruction bridges, and they were repainted to more subdued colors. It is important to consider the surrounding environment and determine whether such strong colors are really desirable.

Although I believe that it is best to avoid using flashy colors too easily, what methods can be used to "successfully stand out" in urban areas?

For example, the Otemachi Financial City Ecomuseum (see map above) uses several colors that are brighter than the surrounding area, which gives the impression of being well differentiated.

This is probably because of the consistent "eco" theme. It is made up of colors that evoke plants and the earth, such as green and brown, and red, like nuts. The sudden appearance of the red traffic cones is a bit of a concern, but this is not about the quality of the color itself, but whether it matches the theme or not. Coordination of every corner of an experiential space is important. I think it is important to adjust the compatibility of the colors and eliminate any factors that create a sense of incongruity.

It also means that you have to be particular about the theme and concept. I felt that it was important to think about the operation and make a comprehensive proposal.

The "Otemachi Gate Building (Tentative name) Uchikanda 1-chome Project" (see map above), currently underway, is a plan to build a pedestrian bridge over the Nihonbashi River, creating a new connection between the Otemachi, Marunouchi and Kanda areas. To borrow the words from earlier, rather than "aiming for 1000 points as a single pedestrian bridge," perhaps the idea is to "raise the average score of the surrounding area" as a bridge going between Otemachi, Marunouchi and Kanda.

That's right. How do we create a relationship with the surrounding area? And just before that, how do we create the bridgehead plaza (the space at the foot of the bridge)? That's going to be important.

There are so many viewpoints here that I found it difficult to choose the color of the bridge.

For example, the "Mitsumi Port Canopy" designed by Ryuichi Watanabe of Ney & Partners Japan has a distinctive shape but blends in well with the surroundings, and when measured, it has a blue color. It is a little sexy when viewed alone, but it goes well with the steel material, and is exquisitely unique and distinctive without being too conspicuous. If you look for a color like that, you will surely find one.

Japanese people have long valued materials. This is not to say that this is a bad thing, but just as we would not call a wooden sign a "brown sign," this tendency to place importance on materials is one of the reasons why it is difficult to think about colors first.
Attitudes towards painting are quite different between the East and the West, with the West having no qualms about coating stones and bricks with paint. Japan has a long history of working with materials, and in addition to being influenced by the climate and geography, it may also be influenced by a polytheistic culture that believes "gods reside in everything," and so has avoided painting materials that would prevent them from breathing.

I once heard that a master carpenter of sukiya architecture says, "When using wood, I place it in the same orientation as when it was alive so that it can breathe."
You're right. It's true that even in design proposals, if you say "we'll use wood," but then say "we'll use brown," I don't think people would be satisfied (laughs).

However, in today's world where wood grain is covered with sheets and stone grain with melamine, our sense of materials will likely change. On the other hand, when we connect this to the theme of "new urban development," it is hard to imagine that the Japanese climate itself will change drastically. In fact, I think that "cities will become a place where people have the opportunity and experience to face nature."

Considering that Japanese people have "lived in an environment rich in natural materials," if cities can also coexist well with nature, they can become very Japanese.

I think there are many possibilities for using color as a theme, but in that case, it becomes more important to examine and create mechanisms for determining why that color must be used, whether it is really necessary, and how it should take root. For example, if we were to bring the entire "Central St. Giles" in London (designed by Renzo Piano) to Japan, it would be difficult to immediately think of a suitable location. For colors and new materials to take root in the environment, they need a purpose or meaning.

There is a small village in Spain called Júzcar. One day, an American film company bought the village and painted all the village buildings a vivid blue for a film campaign. This led to an increase in tourists, created jobs, and attracted young people to the aging village. They had promised to change the color back to its original state in two years, but as a result of a local referendum, the village decided to keep it as it was. It has now become a tourist destination. This is an example of how "color saved the village," going beyond mere aesthetics or meaning. If you choose a color as your theme, you need to be prepared to continue it for the long term and have visible effects.

The colorful towns of South Korea and Brazil, which are often cited as examples, also have the challenge of "slum revitalization" as their background. The Italian island of Burano was a fishing village in a foggy cove, and has a historical background of becoming colorful so that it could be seen from ships out at sea. The vivid colors are not simply used for the purpose of liveliness or urban development, but as an "optimal solution." I hope that the Otemachi, Marunouchi and Yurakucho area will continue to build up "new urban development" with confidence in its history and efforts to date, without being caught up in the immediate "new" things.

Thank you very much for today.