The process for designing and constructing the Komazawa Olympic Park control tower

Abstract

ABSTRACT By analysing the design process for both the control tower plan proposed by architect Masachika Murata that went unselected and the control tower plan by architect Yoshinobu Ashihara, which was selected, this study aims to clarify the main points regarding the design of memorial towers for international events, of which the Olympics is a representative example. This study analyses the architects’ design intentions through a careful reading of primary materials, including sketches of and reports on several architects’ commemorative towers. Regarding the structure of this study, section 2.2 reflects upon the plans for the venues for the 11th and 12th Olympic Games and presents the role that the memorial tower was expected to fulfil. In section 2.3, the basic design for the Komazawa Olympic Park Central Plaza and sketch of the control tower by Murata are analysed, and the positioning of the control tower is reviewed. In section 2.4, a text in which Ashihara references the control tower is reviewed and a contrastive comparison is drawn between Murata’s plans for the control tower – to which a water supply function was added – and Ashihara’s plans for the control tower. As a result of this study, there are three ways to design towers for international events. The first is to base the design on precedent; the second is to make free use of contemporary cutting-edge techniques; and the third is to highlight the host country’s design characteristics within the building’s facade. Based on their respective points of view, both Murata and Ashihara engaged in the challenge of designing an Olympic memorial tower.