Nintendo R&D_Concept Development

NINTENDO

Grand Park

Walt Disney Concert Hall

The Broad Museum

Museum of Contemporary Art

Los Angeles City Hall

Union Station Commuter Rail

Volunteer Punk Band Venue

Japanese American National Museum

Japanese Village Plaza/Mall

Community Youth Association

Los Angeles Mission

Angel City Brewery

Parking Lots within 2 blocks in each direction Nearby Transit Areas

REGION|Points of Interest

Local businesses, Government buildings, etc

Parking Lots within 2 blocks in each direction Nearby Transit Areas

Larger social and administrative buildings are within a 15 minute walk from 301-305 S Los Angeles St Los Angeles, CA 90013. The Union Station Commuter Rail is a 30 minute walk but still accessible. Parks and green spaces are also a 15 minute walk away but parking lots are abundantly placed.

Art Walk DTLA

Transit/Subway

Pershing Square Station (Purple, Red Lines)

Little Tokyo-Arts District Transit Stop (Gold Line)

Civic Center/Grand Park Transit Stop (Purple, Red Lines)

Union Station (Gold, Purple, Red Lines)

REGION| Relation to Transit

The sky glow of Los Angeles is visible from an airplane 200 miles away. When a 1994 earthquake knocked out the city’s power, many anxious residents called local emergency centers to report a strange “giant, silvery cloud” in the dark sky. What they were seeing – for the first time – was the Milky Way, long obscured by light pollution.

Artificial light at night disrupts the seasonal cycle of trees.

Artificial light at night can throw off a plant’s response to the change of seasons. Prolonged exposure to artificial light prevents many trees from adjusting to seasonal variations.

Light Pollution unnecessarily contributes to climate change

In an average year in the U.S., outdoor lighting uses some 120 terawatt-hours of energy, mostly to illuminate streets and parking lots. That’s enough energy to meet New York City’s total electricity needs for 2 years. Unfortunately, up to 50 percent of that light is wasted. That adds up to $3.3 billion and the release of 21 million tons of CO2 per year! To offset all that CO2, we’d have to plant 875 million trees annually.

REGION|Noise & Light Pollution

Some of the noisier parts of California can be found around airports and freeways. Anyone who lives near an airport can tell you it’s loud. According to the map, the landing and takeoff zones around Los Angeles International Airport are particularly bad. Similar noise spikes are evident near airports in San Francisco, Oakland, San Diego, San Jose and Long Beach.

Downtown LA | Location of Site

Southern California leads the nation in air pollution deaths

60%

Los Angeles still has the highest ozone concentrations of any major American metropolis. This is a result of its mountainous terrain, which trap air pollution in the Los Angeles basin. This topography contributes to the creation of smog.

Six of the USA’s 10 cities with the worst air pollution are in the Golden State including:

Bakersfield Los Angeles Fresno

California Cities other US cities

California Cities

Los Angeles-Long Beach, CA ranks first in the US cities for ozone pollution.

Ozone forms when volatile organic compounds, such as gasoline fumes, react with nitrogen oxides from diesel trucks and other machines with internal combustion engines.

Smog Days: days where pollutants in the air were above federal regulation standards

In 2014, Los Angeles had 94 smog days

factories power plants vehicles

Particulates like diesel dust, sulfur dioxide, and nitrogen dioxide can inflame the respiratory system, which can lead to permanently damaged lungs.

Smog-related aliments led to 30,000 emergency room visits in California

As many as 9,600 people die every year from complications of respiratory ailments, most of it due to prolonged exposure to smog.

Air QUality

Fine Particulate Matter PM2.5 an air pollutant that is a concern for people’s health when levels are high. PM2.5 are tiny particles in the air which reduce visibility and cause the air to appear hazy when levels are elevated.

Based on:

1. Annual releases of pollutants or waste that are emitted or transferred into the atmosphere

2. use, type, and storage of hazardous materials

3. proximity to populations, hydrological sensitivity of the facility site, and where wastewater is discharged

The air quality is worst in and around fires burning but the smoke travels to places not threatened by the flames. As the Santa Ana winds die down the smoke lingers in the city causing more pollutants to settle. The most polluted areas are also in lowincome regions where immigrants live.

REGION|Climate Wind

Santa Ana Winds, Site Wind Patterns

Summers are pleasantly cooled by ocean winds. Though these offshore winds bring high humidity, comfort is maintained because of the relatively low temperatures. Ocean breezes are typically strongest later in the evening, and in the winter, winds from the Santa Ana mountain range may bring unwanted heat and dust. During the winter, the wind reverses and brings hot, dry desert air known as Santa Ana winds.

Santa Ana winds are strong, warm, and dry winds that originate from the Great Basin area north east of Los Angeles. The winds are most common in the fall, when they are the hottest and most destructive. Known as “devil winds”, they are a major contributor to the infamous forest fires in Los Angeles.The winds begin northeast of Los Angeles and travel through the desert, becoming dryer and warmer along the way.

The warmest month(s) are July, August and September.

The warmest month is August.

The coolest month is December.

The average annual maximum temperature is: 75.2° Fahrenheit (24.0° Celsius)

The average annual minimum temperature is: 55.4° Fahrenheit (13.0° Celsius)

Due to the constant sun exposure in Los Angeles, solar power is a large contributor in the energy production in the state.

So much so that the cost of solar systems is lower here than in other areas in the country. Even residential buildings are encouraged to install a solar energy system

Summer- Fall

Winter-Spring

Summer- Fall

Winter-Spring

2005-2009 American Community Survey:

White: 41.3% (Non-Hispanic Whites: 29.4%)

Hispanic or Latino (of any race): 47.5%

Black or African American: 9.8%

Native American: 0.5%

Asian: 10.7%

Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander: 0.2%

Other: 25.2%

Two or more races: 2.8%

59.4% were born in the United States

0.9% were born in Puerto Rico, US territories, or abroad to American parents

39.7% of the population were foreign-born.

Highest: Veterans Administration at 48yrs

Lowest: Watts at 21yrs

Bel-Air currently ranks the highest with a median income of $207,938

Downtown LA ranks the lowest with a median income of $15,003

The quality of the surrounding real estate is a factor in the price and affordability of the proposed building for our site. The upcoming high-rises and residential units coupled with the existing residential options allow us to believe that the area is undergoing

Sale Notes

2-Story Commercial Building On Prime DTLA Corner

Gateway To The Downtown Historic Core

Frontage on E. 3rd Street and Los Angeles Street

Price: Not Disclosed

Property type: Retail

Property Sub-type: Storefront Retail/Office

Building Class: C

Sale Type: Investment

Gross Leasable Area: 8,700 SF

No. of Stories: 2

Year Built: 1920

Parking Ratio: 0.23/1,000 SF

Clear Ceiling Height: 8 FT

Zoning Description: C4

Unlimited Stories- No Max Height

Required Yards

Front: None

Side: None for commercial; For residential at lowest residential story: 10% lot width < 50 ft.; 5 ft.; 3 ft. min.; + 1 ft. for each story over 2nd, not to exceed 16 ft.

Rear: None for commercial; For residential at lowest residential story: 15 ft. + 1 ft. for each story over 3rd; 20 ft. max.

Minimum Area per Lot 5,000 sqft

Minimum Area per D.U. 400 sq. ft.; 200 sq. ft. per guest room

Minimum Lot Width 50 ft

SITE|Property Details

APN / Parcel ID: 5148-001-009 Zoning,

820 S

90014

888 S Hope St Los Angeles, CA 90017

1133 S Hope St Los Angeles, CA 90015

900 S

St Los Angeles, CA 90015

SITE|Development

Current and Future Developments of the Area

Current 20+ story buildings

Future development of 20+ story buildings

Each of these blue numbers mark a 20+ story high rise coming up in the upcoming areas of the Arts District and South Park while the green dots mark current 20+ story buildings. Buildings are being constructed at this height in the North, West, and South directions from the site. Skid row to the East is battling gentirfication as well as Little Tokyo. Both areas are small neighborhood with smaller scale residential and commercial.

Olive St Los Angeles, CA

Figueroa

CHOOSING THE CLIENT

Based on the unique intersection of districts and their character at our site, Nintendo was the perfect fit. It responded to the history of toys of the Toy District, the monumentality of DTLA, and the creative industriality of the Arts District.

Our site is located in an area of LA where districts and cultures merge. It is surrounded by LA’s famous Downtown area, but is immersed into the historic Japanese culture of the area. Various opportunities to respond to landmarks and culture are available here.

The immediate site is surrounded by several entertainment and toy stores, popular in the Toy District of LA. There are also numerous parking lots and garages.

The building on site was constructed in 1920.

Construction Period: 1920s in LA

1920s- Boom in Construction in LA: 155 projects of at least 50,000 square feet were constructed from 1920 to 1929 because the city’s population more than doubled in size from 577,000 to over 1.2 million

Downtown: Area which encompasses all of the following districts.

Toy District: 12-block area consisting of 1- and 2-story buildings painted in pastel shades and home to about 500 toy- and electronics-related businesses. Originally a part of Skid Row until 1980’s.

Arts District: Lies on the eastern edge of Downtown Los Angeles, known for giving new life to old industrial buildings from the early 20th century. Art galleries and museums are slowly being activated as more and more factories are being revitalized.

SITE|District Intersection

ARTS DISTRICT DTLA TOY DISTRICT

SITE|District Character

1889 | Former headquarters plate, from when Nintendo was specifically a playing card company. They manufactured and sold “Hanafuda” cards, which translates to “flower cards”, popularly used in Japan for various games.

1970’s | After hiring Gunpei Yokoi, a maintenance engineer for the assembly line, Nintendo tested the toy industry, creating games such as the Ultra Machine (left) and the Ultra Hand (middle). Yokoi eventually focused his efforts on creating electronic toys which were fairly new to the Japanese market. This innovation got Nintendo its initial success and fame, which led to their first video game console release in 1972.

1950’s | Hiroshi Yamauchi, grandson of Nintendo’s founder, Fusajiro Yamauchi, took over the role as president of “Nintendo Playing Card Co., Ltd.” In 1956, after a meeting with the United States Playing Company, the world’s leading manufacturer of playing cards, he realized the limitations of a company whose only product is playing cards. Yamauchi struck a deal with Disney to use their characters on their playing card, broadening their market to Japanese families and households.

1980’s/90’s | Nintendo soon became a household name for video game consoles across the world. From 1980-1991, Nintendo produced the “Game & Watch” line of handheld electronic games (left). During that time, 43.4 million units were sold worldwide. In 1985, the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) (middle) became one of the most popular consoles of all time. Nintendo also released Super Mario Bros in 1985, securing itself at the top of all video game manufacturers in the world. The consistent innovation of consoles, games, and characters, such as the Game Boy (right), Tetris, and Mario, Nintendo still remains the leading company in the video game industry.

Nintendo Co., Ltd. is a Japanese electronics and video game company headquartered in Kyoto, Japan. Nintendo is one of the premier video game companies in the world, known for top-selling franchises such as Mario and Pokemon, and devices such as the Game Boy and Wii. Nintendo was founded in 1889 as a playing card company and eventually moved into the toy industry in the 1960’s. Struggling to compete with major toy companies such as Bandai and Tomy, Nintendo focused its efforts a new market: video gaming. The 1970’s brought Nintendo great success with the introduction of video game consoles and arcade games, creating company mascots such as Donkey Kong and Mario. Through the 1980’s & 90’s, Nintendo consistently produced industry leading consoles and games. In 1995, they announced they had sold one billion game cartridges worldwide, ten percent of which came from the Mario franchise. The 2000’s gave rise to the Game Boy and Wii, continuing the company’s success through the present day.

2001| Nintendo releases the Game Boy Advance, a 32-bit handheld video game console, selling 81.51 million units until its discontinuation in 2010.

2001| Nintendo releases the GameCube, which is a home video game console that competed with Sony’s PlayStation 2 and Microsoft’s Xbox. 21.74 million units were sold until 2007.

2004| Nintendo releases the DS, which is a dualscreen handheld game console featuring a touch screen, a built-in microphone, and wireless connectivity. All Nintendo DS models combined have sold 154.02 million units, which makes it the best selling handheld game console of all time.

2006| Nintendo releases the Wii, the successor of the GameCube, competing with the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. This product targeted a larger market, introducing a handheld remove detecting movement in three dimensions. This console allowed users to become immersed in the game they’re playing.

2012| Nintendo releases the Wii U, a home video game console that created some controversy. At first glance, the product images made it seem as if the Wii U had the option to become a portable device. However, the console was only meant to be a home console, not a portable one. On top of that, software and battery life issues led to a poor reaction from customers.

2017| Nintendo releases the Switch, which is a hybrid console with the ability to be played at home and on the go. The docking station allows the device to be plugged into a television, similar to the Wii or GameCube, and the removal of the LCD touchscreen from the docking station allows it to be handheld, similar to the Game Boy and DS. The above pictures show the consoles ability to be played in a living room and in the car.

2018| Later this year, Nintendo will release a gaming and construction toy platform called Nintendo Labo, which is a line of interactive build-and-play kits for kids and for those who are kids at heart. The idea behind this DIY line of toys is to bring creativity to the video game world and allow the user to physically make their own gaming experience. Users can transform modular sheets of cardboards into creations called Toy-Con, that when combined with the Nintendo Switch, create a unique experience based on the game and creation.

CLIENT|Nintendo Current & Future

Nintendo’s success with the Game Boy and the Pokemen franchise in the early 2000’s has allowed the company to stay at the top of the video game idustry for years to come. Nintendo has maintained its success through the present day, opening offices in cities worldwide. Nintendo UK was established in 2001 and Nintendo Italia in 2002. The Game Cube, Nintendo DS, and Wii are three of the major consoles sold by Nintendo during the 2000’s.

Today, Nintendo is focusing their efforts on portability and “on the go” video gaming. The release of the Nintendo Switch competed with Play Station 4 and Xbox One due to its ability to be used with multiple players while on the go. It has become the fastest-selling video game console of all time.

Also, the Nintendo Labo combines the Nintendo Switch with DIY creations. The idea behind the Labo is to reach back to its toy-making roots and allow kids to fully immerse themselves into games by having them physically build them.

USING NINTENDO’S GOAL AS OUR OWN

Nintedo has been constantly moving towards a more digitally dependent type of play but their goal for the future is to reconnect physical play to their gaming devices. This connection between the digital and physical play is what we strive to achieve in our Research & Development Center.

INACTIVE PLAY

IMMERSIVE

PHYSICAL, OUTDOOR PLAY

VIRTUAL REAL

INTERACTIVE PLAY

PHYSICAL

TRADITIONAL VIDEO GAMES

This research and development center will strive to create an immersive digital environment adjacent to a real, physical landscape and build a strong relationship between the two types of play.

SITE & SCHEMATIC DEVELOPMENT

Current 20+ story buildings

Future development of 20+ story buildings

To create a focal point and an anomaly in the city which gives visitors an experience where they feel as though they have been transported to another area, we have chosen to go underground.

Doing this enables us to emphasize the uniqueness of Nintendo within a bustling city center of diverse architecture.

Site in consideration

Current Building Heights

If the site was built to 20+ stories

CONCEPTUAL|Massing

Intent to go Underground

Current

Projected

The site is in a unique part of the city where its surrounding five by five block radius is low rise buildings while past that radius buildings go up to being 20+ stories tall. The site is in somewhat of a bowl in the city. With the upcoming high-rise development this situation is going to be accentuated.

heights of buildings around the site

heights of buildings around the site

PUBLIC PRIVATE

INITIAL FORM ORGANIZATION & DEVELOPMENT

From the initial strategy of dividing the site into a workable rectilinear grid, the spatial development took a less rigid form eliminating corners. The section development was based on the type of program, public/ private, number of people in the space, and lighting requirements derived from concept models.

Building Name: Location: Client: Architect:

Building Footprint:

Total Area:

Building Cost:

Groundbreaking:

Completion:

Employees in Factory: Program: Parking:

Total Complex Cost:

BMW Central Building

Leipzig, Germany

BMW AG, Munich, Germany

Zaha Hadid

250,000 square feet (23,000 m2)

270,000 square feet (25,000 m2)

$60 million

March 2003

May 2005

5,500

Control Functions, Offices/Admin., Meeting rooms, Cafeteria, Public Relations

4,100 Spaces

$1.55 Billion

Hadid’s BMW Central Building, which was completed in 2005, connects three separate production buildings on the German car brand’s manufacturing complex in Leipzig. The building hosts offices and meeting rooms for the company’s design, management and administrative staff, but also features a large elevated conveyor that moves hundreds of cars through the building every day from one production shed to another.

The integration of the production line with management and administrative facilities broke down barriers between blue- and white-collar workers.

The building acts as the main nerve center of the plant, joining together the three main production facilities. Cars move overhead, through the main building, not only above busier visitor’s heads, but also past the desks of managers, designers and specialists. The open office space designs date back to the feel of the American 1970s. It has a positive influence on workflow, teamwork and an open exchange of ideas. Therefore the building embodies what has been called a “communication knot – funneling all movement around the manufacturing complex through a space that transcends conventional white collar/blue collar special divisions.

The movement of the assembly line broke down hierarchies. It totally blurred the boundary between making, management and designing. It was a very radical piece of design but it was also a very radical piece of thinking.

CASE STUDY|BMW Central Building

Zaha Hadid, Leipzig, Germany

”doingsomethingthatgoesbeyondthepragmatic”

It is the amalgamation of innovation, function and comfort.

White Collar Blue Collar

CASE STUDY|BMW Central Building

Zaha Hadid, Leipzig, Germany

All of the load-bearing walls, floors, and office levels are made of cast-in-place concrete, while the roof structure is composed of structural steel beams and space frame construction. The facade is clad in simple materials of like corrugated metal, channel glass, and glass curtain walls.

Complex space framing

Simple space framing

Structural steel framing of the roof

Bottom- heavy concrete pier design with Large and small scale steel framing for the roof and smaller interior spaces

Car Conveyor

Floor Levels in Axon

The heights of the wooden dowels represent the size of programmatic spaces. The ground plane becomes the datum line, which represents the distinction between Research & Recreational zones.

The result of this model created various options for program layout, sizes of spaces, and an organic circulation path above and below the datum line, and in between program.

Model Material 1| Ribbed fabric, creates loose shell-like form

Model Material 2 | “Tulle”, lightweight fiber netting, creates shell with transparent qualities

Model Material 3 | Nylon fabric, creates tight, more defined form

Program, Form Finding CONCEPTUAL|Study Model

Experimenting with materials, heights, & spacing to relate program to form and create a distinction between Research and Recreation

Recreation (Real)

Circulation

Ground Plane Research (Virtual)

CONCEPTUAL|Study Model

Program and square- footage

Model Material 1

Model Material 2

Model Material 3

1

Parking placed

25’ Park Perimeter

The main circulation corridor runs from Toy District to DTLA.

2

Toy District

This is the direction in which the program sequence is laid out. The commercial, retail aspect of the program faces the traffic heavy DTLA while the history and presentation of the Nintendo products is oriented towards Toy District.

3

Underground Parking

SCHEMATIC|Intial Plan Development

Public, Private, and Circulation

5 Take on the Go

4 Create Your Own

3 Experience the Difference

2 Present the New

1 Learn the History

Pull center away from street edge by creating park buffer

underground to maximize area and reduce blacktop surfaces

Gray represents building footprint; dashed line is the roof line

Height of Roof above Program depends directly on the type of program, public/ private, number of people in the space, and lighting requirements

BEHIND THE SCENES TAKE ON THE GO

PRESENT THE NEW EXPERIENCE THE DIFFERENCE

CREATE YOUR OWN &

LEARN THE HISTORY

SCHEMATIC|Initial Section Development Material,

Program Experience

Each segment of the program corresponds to their respoctive colors based on Nintendo’s color scheme over the years. The transition through the circulation is framed in a finish which constantly changes materiality while retaining the same color. Nintendo’s iconic colors: yellow, red, and blue are incorporated throughout the winding circulation.

Nintendo’s Current & Future Product Color Scheme

Nintendo’s Past Product Color Scheme

SCHEMATIC|Initial Form within Site

Site Context

Green-scape lowering the building heat loads by decreasing blacktop and impermeable surfaces

Concrete Deck needed to support the landscaping, live loads, and green roof above

Steel Lattice Roof Structure to provide flexibility and strength over the spans along the length of the site

The

Elevation heights

Min Max

Each contour is 1’ apart

The free flowing nature of the roof allows for the heights of the spaces within to have different heights according to what type of program resides underneath.

SCHEMATIC|Intial Structural Development

base of the R&D Center is built of concrete walls with a multi material circulation corridor

FINAL FORM ORGANIZATION & DEVELOPMENT:

From the initial strategy of dividing the site into a workable rectilinear grid, the spatial development took a less rigid form eliminating corners. The section developed further based on the changes made in the program and plan organization.

Height

Roof above Program

The heights of the wooden dowels represent the size of programmatic spaces. The ground plane becomes the datum line, which represents the distinction between Research & Recreational zones.

The result of this model created various options for program layout, sizes of spaces, and an organic circulation path above and below the datum line, and in between program.

SCHEMATIC | Form Finding

of

depends directly on the type of program, public/ private, number of people in the space, and lighting requirements

Height of Roof above Program depends directly on the type of program, public/ private, number of people in the space, and lighting requirements

SCHEMATIC|Program to Roof Connection

Form Finding & Spatial Quality

PARTII DIAGRAM

6 5 4

DATUM IS FLUXUATED ACCORDING TO PROGRAM AND SPACE

A WALKWAY IS IMPOSED ON THE DRAMATIC AREAS OF THE LANDSCAPE TO ENSURE ACCESSIBILITY

THE RESULT IS A PHYSICAL LANDSCAPE WITH VISUAL AND PHYSICAL CONNECTIONS TO THE IMMERSIVE, DIGITAL INTERIOR

Plan Partii:

Curved walls within the interior serve to disorient and envelope the individual within the environment created underground with the skylights and clerestories being glimpses into the outside to reorient yourself within the site.