Momoko Kotani's portfolio

portfolio

Momoko Kotani selected works

Momoko Kotani ｜小谷桃子

Urban Designer / Architectural Assistant

I am a self-motivated urban designer who loves urban society and culture.

I am passionate about site analysis and strategic design for sustainable unique cities. Proficient in a range of architecture & design related software including GIS and environmental simulation software.

Education

Master of Science in Architecture

2020 - 2022 Lund University

(Lund, Sweden)

Specialisation in Sustianbale Urban Design

Dissertationavailablefromhere

Title:LiveableSpacesforPeople (Macao,China)

Architecture BA Honours

2017 - 2020 Newcastle University

(Newcastle, UK)

Relevant Work Experience

2 months Student Intern at an architecture office in Japan Jun 2019 - Sept 2019

Tools

2D AutoCAD SketchUp

image Photoshop Illustrator InDesign After Effects

video PremirePro

environmental simulation IES Virtual Environment (VE) ENVI-met Simscale

3D modelling AutoCAD SketchUp Revit Rhinoceros

GIS QGIS ArcGIS

Interests

Google UX Design Professional Certificate (Completed 7 of 7 courses)

Coursera online course by Google

Dec 2022 - July 2023

Python for Everybody Specialization

Coursera online course by University of Michigan

Feb 2023

GIS Specialization (Completed 1 of 5 courses)

Coursera online course by University of California, Davis

Mar 2023

Participated Competition

NUWAO Oceania Nature-based Urban Adaptation

Urban Design Competition in New Zealand

Sept 2022 - Nov 2022

mOOO6 Layer 02 City

Urban Design Competition in Hengqin & Macau

Jul 2022 - Sept 2022

Languages

Japanese

English

Chinese

Native Fluent Intermediate

Liveable Spaces for People

2022

MSc 2

Horta e Costa e Ouvidor Arriaga & Barca, Macao, China

# Urban Design # Streetscape

2021

Urban Embroidery

Praha 11, Praha, Czech Republic

# Urban Design # Public realm

Locavore Town

Memory Garden

Dwelling Plus

2021

Ártúnshöfði, Reykjavik, Iceland MSc 1

# Urban Design # Urban agriculture

2020

Westgate, Newcastle Upon Tyne, England BA 3

# Care home # Architecture

Leith, Edinburgh, Scotland BA 2

# Architecture

# Residential

Liveable Spaces for People

Horta e Costa e Ouvidor Arriaga & Barca, Macao, China

# Streetscape # Urban Design

Many cities around the world are undergoing urbanisation, developing undeveloped land or redeveloping underused areas due to changing times. Such developments often focus on attracting new residents and building new communities, and their economic benefits, so those areas are actively developed by developers and municipalities. Also, the concept of compact cities is encouraged in such areas in terms of sustainability. On the other hand, some old residential areas have attracted more people than the city’s capacity, it is difficult to redevelop overcrowded areas in order to overcome their problems and improve the quality of life for their residents.

This project will focus primarily on designing for improved quality of life in overcrowded areas. In particular, it aims to change streets and public places from car-oriented planning to human-oriented design. The project also proposes strategy and design taking into account sustainability in terms of culture and environment

The project site is an old residential area in the city of Macao, China. The main challenges are the lack of public spaces with car-oriented planning and the extreme density. Considering its characteristic culture, history, and environmental challenges, this project proposes liveable spaces for local people in the tourism city of Macao.

Street Strategy

Main Road (25m wide) ‘街’Rua (10m)

‘斜巷’/Calcada (7-9m)

‘巷’/Travessa (4.5m wide)

Urban Embroidery

Praha 11, Praha, Czech Republic

# Urban Design # Public realm

The main challenges in this project’s site are the lack of local identities and the sense of community, especially due to the uniform buildings, uniform and scattered greenery, and the lack of meeting points or places for social activities in in-between spaces of the residential blocks.

Therefore, the vision of the project is to create the local identity and a sense of community by “Urban Embroidery”.

People belonging to the city by the local identity and the sense of community are essential for sustainable cities to be active, attractive, and maintained. Embroidery is an artwork making a piece of a blank canvas into a special characteristic cloth with various elements which sometimes identify its culture or history. Also, the process of embroidery is slow progress over time, which makes the outcomes more special to the ones who make them. “Urban Embroidery” I mean here, is the slow process of the urban revitalization by people in the underused areas

In the project site, there are many underused areas such as large green open spaces, parking lots, and in-between spaces of panelaks. The first strategy to revitalize them by people is to downscale these areas, to build on the existing built structures and landscape, and to leave a margin for people to work on over time. By creating and maintaining the spaces by themselves, people would feel a sense of belonging to the local community.

The second strategy is to create a flow of people through the chosen site around Háje metro station. The continuous route through the area will connect five areas with different characters, and the project aims that people will be proud that they are from Háje!

Strategy

Continuous route

Mobility

• Create the flow of people through the site

Enhance the sense of medium scale local community tying the small scale local communities together

Walking path Tram line

Public Spaces

Car road Bike lane

Public Space

Downscale Programme

• Create appropriate scale of public spaces

• Utilize existing open spaces/ underused public spaces

Use Green structures

Build-on

• Entrances & Walls

• Intervention of physical structure

• Spaces for sharing

2040

2050

Residential

Residential + Active GF

Parking block + Active GF

Public facilities

Sports facilities

Semi-public Space Green and Blue Structure

Mixed use

Retail

Dense Green Spaces

Open Green Spaces

Semi-private Green Spaces

Blue structure

Design Toolbox

Steps & Levels

Locavore Town

Ártúnshöfði, Reykjavik, Iceland

# Urban Design # Urban agriculture

The main challenges in this project are health issues, such as mental illness, diet issues and lack of exercise. Furthermore, the situation of food import, the balance of nutrition and domestic food transportation, result in the issues of diet in Reykjavik, for example, low food self-sufficiency (especially vegetable and fruit), and lack of food production in the capital region.

Therefore, the vision of this project is to provide a healthy lifestyle in Reykjavik

To overcome the challenges, the project will promote urban agriculture, biodiversity and active/ public transport.

Urban Agriculture

To become a food self-sufficient city, food production on several scales is essential. Under the condition of extreme weather in Iceland, the production of fruit and vegetable in greenhouses in urban areas, for example, residential and commercial areas will result in the supply of fresh fruit and vegetable, which will improve the balance of nutrition and promote a healthier diet. Moreover, small or middle scale urban agriculture will be an opportunity for education and community building. Also, the food production in urban areas will reduce transportation.

Biodiversity

In addition to urban agriculture, the improvement of biodiversity at the roadside, street and former industrial areas will also help better mental health, community building and education.

Active/Public Transport

The attractions near or at BRT stop will encourage the use of public transport. The connectivity through Reykjavik is adequate, however, the quality of street for cyclists and pedestrian is poor. Therefore, the improvement with green structure, appropriate width of cycle lanes and pavement will allow people to shift from the use of private cars to active transport or public transport.

Biodiverse

Urban

Strategic Concept

community building

Urban Agriculture

more exercise education

healthier diet

+biodiversity + active/publictransport

balance of Nutrition

reduction of transportation

Spatial strategy at Local Scale

for Locals + for Visitors

The site will welcome visitors at BRT stops. The areas around the stops will have public facilities open to everyone. The rest of the areas will give the sense of semi-private/ private for locals.

+ Biodiverse

Two areas divided by the cliff will have different features of biodiverse and urban.

cliff edge

stormwater flooding area

Zoning

Green Typology

Strategy at Regional Scale

1. Urban Agriculture Typology

2. Roadside Biodiversity

3.1 Active/ Public Transport Networks

3.2 Active/ Public Transport Networks

Building Typology

1. village

4. middle rise closesd block

6. closed blocks

5. open blocks

2. low-rise apartment

3. middle rise apartment

Memory Garden

Westgate, Newcastle Upon Tyne, England

# Care home # Architecture

This project proposed the design of a care home for people with dementia in Newcastle, UK. The design concept is that people enjoy gardening, communicate with different generations, and expand connections between local people

The main design approach is to make all the bedrooms and living space face to the south to light the spaces with natural light. The shape of architecture and landscape extends towards the sun like the spreading petals of dandelions. It allows patients to wake up with the morning sunlight, and even if they want to stay in their private area during the daytime, they can still see the public activities in the garden.

The project started with an understanding of dementia and memory, and how architecture can help people with dementia and stimulate their senses. People with dementia are sensitive to noise, colour, materiality and lighting. Therefore, I chose each of these elements carefully.

Also, I looked at reference care homes for people with dementia and found that many of them regarded courtyards and gardens as essential elements in the care of people with dementia. Furthermore, the visual connection between private and semi-public spaces is well controlled. I also considered how to use and connect the existing buildings at the site to preserve 1890s historical buildings and to suggest sustainable development for the preservation of the local history, atmosphere, and memory.

Massing

study with physical model

Massing study based on IESVE solar simulation

Internal comfort consideration based on IESVE solar simulation

Day lighting close to floor 200 - 500 Lux table height (75 cm above fl oor) 500 Lux

Care light bed level (85 cm above floor) 300 - 500 Lux

Reading light, work light bed level/reading level 300 - 1000 Lux

Living area light close to floor 100 - 500 Lux (Derungs Light, 2016)

Envi-met WInd Simulation

Existing Site Plan (Base case): Proposal

13th October - Worst case

Wind Speed: 14.11 m/s

Wind direction: 251 deg

Temperature (°C) : 13.9 (min.) - 21 (max.)

Humidity (%) : 66.3 (min.) - 98.6 (max.)

• The simulation results show the south-west wind is strong and the place is not comfortable to walking and too cold outside.

• The car park and main entrance would need wind buffers.

• The wind speed at the rest of the site is relatively low enough to sit there.

Average High

Average High Wind Speed: 9 m/s

Wind direction: 235 deg

Temperature (°C) : 0 (min.) - 5 (max.)

Humidity (%) : 60 (min.) - 90 (max.)

• As the proposal design demolishes some of the existing buildings, the wind becomes stronger in the gardening space. Therefore, the wind buffer in the parking area, but not shading buildings, such as small deciduous trees would be necessary to create a comfortable gardening area.

Proposal - Modifications to Landscape

Average High

Average High Wind Speed: 9 m/s

Wind direction: 235 deg

Temperature (°C) : 0 (min.) - 5 (max.)

Humidity (%) : 60 (min.) - 90 (max.)

• The additional trees and other wind buffering system could improve the comfort in the garden as the difference from the previous simulation is very little.

Dwelling Plus

Leith, Edinburgh, Scotland

# Residential # Architecture

With the theme of the relationship between the public and private, I designed a residential building in Leith, Edinburgh. In contrast to the surrounding ordinary concrete blocks, I proposed a complicated shape with a timber structure and facade to bring a warm atmosphere in a windy and cold environment.

Open space at the ground level can be used for reading and gardening, while people can glance at the semi-public library room through a shallow window. The outdoor benches are movable, allowing the space to be used in multiple ways. The connection between public and semi-public spaces also creates opportunities for communication between neighbours.

While designing the building to avoid a clear boundary between private and public areas, privacy has also been taken into account. For example, the windows facing the tall existing apartment on the first and second floors are shaped differently from the other windows to ensure that private spaces are not visible from the outside. Each flat has a bedroom, bathroom, kitchen, living room, private balcony and storage. Each flat has an average area of 60 m2 and can accommodate one to two people. I have also tried to minimise the line of flow and maximise active space in each room.