Youth Nexus • Municipal Hall

Durgaa Devi D/O Manni

Youth Nexus is a dual purpose hub with structured and unstructured programs targeted for the younger generation of Gifu to develop socio-emotional skills and pick up new skills outside of school curriculum. At the moment, Media Cosmos and the upcoming City hall are connected via the exterior plaza. Youth Nexus collaborates with the spaces in Media Cosmos and the upcoming City Hall through a link bridge. As the name suggests, it will serve as the nexus of Gifu City’s youth collaboration

Schools in Gifu, Media Cosmos, City Hall and Youth Nexus (Municipal Hall) are scattered along a single axis. There are hardly any concert halls or auditorium in the surrounding radius of Municipal Hall, and the existing ones are of a much smaller scale, hence making the Municipal Hall a prominent landmark.

The link bridge serves as the connection between Media Cosmos, City Hall and Youth Nexus to increase circulation of youth in these spaces.

During the initial stages of site analysis, it was discovered that the buildings around the Municipal Hall were mainly residential and office buildings. Also, there were no outside school activities/ recreational activities available for youth. At the moment, the popular hang out location for youth is the Media Cosmos, which has limited spaces for activities and serves more as a study space. Students are scattered around their schools or homes without much socialization.

Through this collaboration, I hope that youth along this axis will be pulled into one common space where they socialize and share common experiences through the programmes offered by Youth Nexus.

This section depicts the circulation between the collaborated spaces.

The main changes to the Municipal Hall are in the cylinder. The cylinder serves as a more common gathering space/public space. During site analysis, I studied that there are limited auditoriums around Gifu, hence, I remodeled the auditorium such that it serves 2 purposes, as a hangout location and as a mini stage for youth to showcase their newly developed talents. The cut-outs on the facade increase ventilation and light into space. It also serves as a viewing platform for youth to look outside of Youth Nexus into the main street.

The roof has been made accessible for youth through a staircase extension and lift.

The basement is kept to its original functions except for the addition of a new lift. This lift aids in transporting the woodworking materials to the 2^nd floor, Maker Space, and to bring down the finished woodworking exhibits to the 1^st floor.

As for level 1, there is an additional entrance added to the cylindrical space, this is to ensure that the cylindrical space which serves as a public space, is open to the public even after the opening hours, also, the public would be allowed to enter the art exhibition areas to take a look at youths’ works if there is any. Otherwise, the existing entrances are kept untouched. The Art Studios mainly hold workshops for youth such as minowashi, painting, calligraphy etc.

There is a single seating attached to the circular glass walls of the cylinder for youth or interested public to watch the showcase by youth. Glass circular walls create a transparent boundary between those attending workshops in the multipurpose rooms and the public/youth in the seating spaces available. The multipurpose rooms hold workshops targeted mainly at youth. However, the interested public can join, this fosters community spirit between the public and youth.

As for level 2, a café space is extended from the L block up to the cylinder to better circulation between these spaces. The seating spaces on 2F can be accessed through the cafe. Some walls have been removed to enlarge the spaces, while majority of the rest are kept untouched. Some walls are added to break down larger spaces into smaller spaces depending on the scale of the workshops. Walls are glass to create more transparency between spaces in the hope that youth develop interests to explore various other workshops.

Level 2 consists of the Dance + Music Studios where youth pick up new styles of dance such as Nihon buyo, Kawasaki, traditional Japanese dance styles and musical instruments, a Computer room for programming lessons, Recreational Room for bonding and relaxation with friends, Maker Space for woodwork, metalwork, manual arts, crafts such as Mino yaki and Cloisonne. Culinary space to pick up cooking skills (example mochi making) and the lift outside gives access directly into the roof where youth learn about horticulture.

As for the roof, since it is currently a horticultural space, the lift has been extended to the roof to allow youth to circulate between the culinary studio and the roof spaces. The staircase extension also allows youth to the roof where they can unwind.

Model Zoom In