Nexus World is an urban housing experiment in Fukuoka Japan, masterplanned by 2019 Pritzker Prize laureate Arato Isozaki in 1991. The neighbourhood presents a 90’s vision of future urbanism, an experiment in which Isozaki invited (at least) 6 cutting-edge architects from around the world to design innovative housing projects.
The architects include Oscar Tusquets, Christian de Portzamparc, Osamu Ishiyama, Mark Mack, Rem Koolhaas & Steven Holl. Isozaki himself also designed buildings within the development, as did Arquitectonica.
Spanish architect Oscar Tusquets designed a set of postmodern buildings reminiscent of European urban blocks.
French architect Christian de Portzamparc designed a series of angular housing blocks with broken pieces of stone embedded into the concrete facade.
Japanese architect Osamu Ishiyama built an arc-shaped block with balconies and cantilevered overhangs on the exterior.
American architect Mark Mack created a colourful structure at the corner of the development, cut away from the junction with shops facing a small plaza. A taller residential block contrasts the pink corner building and articulated balconies and external staircases provide visual interest.
Dutch architect Rem Koolhaas‘s building is one of his early projects, built before he had achieved worldwide fame! The seminal project explores a new typology for denser residential urbanity by packing 24 3-storey houses into two compact buildings.
Without any space between the houses or significant exterior openings, the units are accessed from a network of alleyway-like corridors with fenced in open-air yards on the ground level. The two storey units above receive natural light through a double skin facade with mesh floors and ceilings, and the top floors have clerestory-like roofs that scoop out dramatically to draw light in.
Arquitectonica completed a later addition to the neighbourhood in pastel red and blues.
Arata Isozaki originally planned to build two large skyscrapers to complete the development, but later completed a shorter tower on the site with pale green stripes of balconies.
The unusual, organic landscape design between the buildings was designed by innovative abstract landscape designer Martha Schwartz.
My personal favourite project was designed by American architect Steven Holl. Amazingly, his Nexus project was only his second built work and already shows his signature mastery over form and aperture. The off-form concrete building is raised at the back, with car parking below and park-facing units above. At the front facing the street, the building is articulated into a rhythm of vertical blocks with concrete finishes dyed in a deep green and finely crafted glazed shopfronts.
The details of the building are so intricate and well composed, with completely bespoke details from the glass facades down to the door handles.
Drainage for a glass shelter falls into an expressed gutter, which leads by pipe into a wall-recessed drain with a glass front to show the water flow. The details are just fantastic.
Images by Jonathan Choe
