Marché VISON
Commercial complex representing the VISON’s regional collaborations
2021@Taki, Mie Prefecture
Marché VISON has won the Platinum Award in the “Building and Structure Design Category” of the A’ DESIGN AWARD 2024.
Marche Vison Market by Tomoya Akasaka
A’ Design Award & Competition is one of the world’s largest international design competitions, held in Italy. Winners are selected through rigorous evaluation by internationally renowned scholars, famous journalists, designers, and business leaders. The awards are divided into five ranks, with the most outstanding works receiving the Platinum, Gold, Silver, Bronze, and Iron awards, covering all design fields.
Marché VISON is a regional collaboration platform centering on food. More weight is placed on the dining experience compared to average farm-direct markets. In addition to the sales of local produce and serving as a hub for local agritourism, it is also planned as a venue for regional innovation where chefs can introduce new specialties, as well as a venue for collaborative events with local high schools. Situated in VISON, which is themed on food and health and revolves around the core concept of herbal medicine deeply rooted in Mie Prefecture, the stories of foodstuff that Marché VISON carries are wide-ranging and connect to the whole of Mie Prefecture. As a symbol of uniting various thoughts into one direction and expansively covering diverse ideas across mountains and the sea, we delivered monolithic roofs that connect the heaven and earth.
Expansive Roofs
Rain (AQUA) and sunshine (IGNIS) descend upon the earth from the heavens, nurturing an abundance of produce. The Expansive Roofs symbolize humanity’s existence within this cycle. The large roofs soar skyward as if reaching toward the cosmos, featuring a three-dimensional curve that extends along the ground. The continuous eaves and gutters are designed to draw attention to the rain. The framework supporting the expansive roofs is inspired by the iterative torii gates of the Akone Yashiro Shrine, situated within the outer shrine of the Ise Grand Shrine. The Akone Yashiro Shrine is dedicated to prayers for bountiful harvests, plentiful catches, and thriving commerce, making it an ideal inspiration for a facility that manages the production of Mie Prefecture.
Skeleton of the Landscape
The VISON was developed with the aim to apply height differences wherever possible in order to create a mountain scenery. Marché VISON also takes on this direction and intends to acquire the richness of the emerging three-dimensional scenery. While the structure is divided into four buildings in the longitudinal direction, the stepped slabs are connected with slopes to continuously align the frame pitch in order to fortify the impression of an en suite facility. Transverse to the long side, the gradient that continues from the terrain to the grand roofs guides the eyes to the sky, creating a lively flow.
Two Temporal Layers
Commerce inevitably evolves over time, and it is nearly impossible to control its design in the long term. Therefore, we decided to separate the timeline of commerce from that of the landscape. By dividing the large roofs and the cluster of small structures into two layers, we aimed to achieve both the “cultivation of scenic value” that accompanies the passage of time in nature, and the “dynamism of commerce” required for constant freshness. As commerce changes with time, the expansive roofs will embrace those changes and transcend the eras.
Construction of Intermediate Zone
Marché VISON is a construction in the intermediate zone. The monolithic roofs take on an appearance of an independent feature, like an extended continuation of the eaves that connect the inside to the outside. The idea is to have people enjoy the climate and nature of Mie together with the seasonal foods. We wanted to embrace the seasonal physical sensations that tend to be forgotten in our world where closed-type shops and online shopping has become commonplace. Naturally, Marché VISON offers a simple answer to an environmental problem: minimal energy consumption for air conditioning.
Sequence
Marché VISON is the first building that visitors coming from the direction of Nagoya encounter. As such, we conceived a composition that is in harmony with nature and forms a part of the grandeur of the landscape as a prologue to the VISON. For this reason, Marché VISON’s design has a particular focus on symbolism among all of the constructions in VISON. Additionally, from the perspective of the master plan of the entire VISON, this building is also a passage that connects the parking lots to the commercial area. We adopted a sequence with flavorful variation so as to invite people to walk this lengthy pedestrian space.
Genius Loci
Since the VISON is an enormous development that alters the natural environment in no small measure, we sought to make this place where people can feel the genius loci, the protective spirit of a place. Instead of building concrete edifices pursuing economy in the narrow sense, we aimed to create a unique landscape that connects with the regional environment and offers a sense of affluence over generations. With such a mindset, we pursued a way to design and create Marché VISON so that it brings out the best of the natural environment. We took particular care in the elements where the common practice of commercial facilities may clash with the ideals of the area’s scenery, such as signs and lighting.
Homeland Scene
The expressway side of the buildings consists of louvers made using wood from Mie prefecture. This is intended to create and showcase a luminous drama that can be seen from cars. In particular, we carefully presented the comfort of the hours when the mountain range blurs into the evening sky. The lights that resemble those leaking from houses remind people of warmth and harmonize with the darkening mountains. People of the next generation protect and foster homeland scenes and share that value with guests from faraway. We hope for such virtuous cycle.
