Professional -Landscape design -Research -Community engagement
Work @ SOCI Inc.
Yoshihisa Oyabu Hana Sunaga
Date 2024 (On-going)
Tools
Autocad, Sketch-up, Adobe Suite, QGIS, Microsoft Office, Hand-modelling and mock-ups, Research skills, Teamwork,
Guided by SOCI’s core design principles of climate adaptation, inclusivity, and participation, my approach integrates a deep understanding of natural systems with forward-thinking design strategies. This enables me to contribute to complex, high-impact projects while driving the vision for sustainable, people-centered landscapes. I successfully led two pilot projects aimed at enhancing user accessibility, including the Carrot Square redevelopment at Kita-Asaka Station, which serves approximately 300,000 passengers daily.
1. Carrot Square in Kita-Asaka Station
2. Carrot Square in Kita-Asaka Station
2. Urban renderings of Suwa-city
4. Outdoor flower pot rendering
5. Existing underground services plan
6. Park-let activity survey
7. Local-community workshop news letter
8. Regenerative design research
9. Pilot-project activity survey in Kita-Asaka station
10. Concept proposal diagrams based on GIS research
11. Domestic precedent project research
12. International precedent project research
PEOPLE’S PALACE
-The Oslo Arkitektur triennale 2022 -
Location
Oslo, Norway (On-site)
Project type
Professional -Exhibition
Supervised by Lauge Floris Larsen
DSA ARK STUDIO
Date September, 2022
Tools
Hand modelling and mock-up skill, Painting, communication
People’s palace is a visionary project in architectural statement confronting contemporary urban developments to instead paying tribute to the city’s complexity to openness. Based on Paul Gerne’s color palette, the project gives to more open, imaginative, and experimental urban development.
THE FLUID GARDEN OF KITAKAMI
-Weaving boundaries along the Tsunami coast -
Location Miyagi, Japan (On-site in Norway+Remote to Japan)
Project type
Diploma in Master program
Supervised by Miguel Fernandez Quintanilla Ahmed Faisal
The fluid garden of Kitakami is an experimental project that rethinks adaptive disaster lifestyle in the coastal area of Japan where a Tsunami hit communities in 2011. The approach is to weave several aspects of traditional Japanese culture to design a new resilient landscape that celebrates natural cycles and understands humans as part of them.
Tsunami
On March 11th, 2011, A tsunami hit the North eastern region in Japan.
The government made a budget for reconstruction plan.About 395 km of seawalls have been built along the coastline. The walls do not prevent the tsunami from hitting the settlements as it mainly retards the arrival of the larger waves, increasing the time available for evacuation.
Those seawalls have not improved the surrounding natural environment and ecosystem long term. The plans are not well thought through, the walls had to be finished before 2020, and many of the constructions are not well fitted to specific sites’ needs and realities. Their efficacy is also questionable.
Completed super dikes along the Tohoku coast until 2022
The dike blocked the water flowing into the sea after a typhoon in Miyagi prefecture, 2020
The North eastern region in Japan
Plant study - Deciduous trees to Halophytes -
The reed habitat, which highly valued for their economic and scenic reasons, extends into the river.
Pharagmites australis, especially those grown in brackish water, are used as a durable roofing material for traditional Japanese buildings in the local industry, which especially be an revenue producer during winter when the rice farmer's slacks seasons.
The plant works to purify the water quality, and there is a certain seasonal cycle to maintain the landscape through people’s annual maintenance. As a result, the locals have established reciprocity between those natural features of their surroundings.
Local habitat and Species
The reeds grow in the river today
Saline 40g/L salt
Hilltops
Lathyrus pratensis
Pinus thumbergii
Pharagmites australis
Salicornia europaea
Salix Babylonica
Ginko biloba
Zelkoba serrata
Oryza sativa Oryza sativa
Carex koboumugi
Limonium tetragonum
Pacific Oyster Magallana gigas)
Helice tridens
Periophthalmus modestus
Brent Goose (Branta bernicla)
The 2011 tsunami destroyed an elementary school, public facilities, residential areas and caused much human suffering. In addition, all coastal protection facilities were also destroyed, resulting in land subsidence around the coast and continued inundation by seawater.
Theme1-Creating emergency network based on local shrine locations
The site features two shrines, with the main road currently located along the water’s edge behind a seawall. In the event of a tsunami, this road would likely be impassable for several days. To address this, I designed a new emergency path following the 8-meter contour line, connecting the valley’s shrines and accommodating emergency vehicles.
The project aims to establish a broader emergency network along the edge of the flood zone, culminating in a miniexperimental implementation to test its feasibility.
According to the research on the location of Shinto shrines in Miyagi prefecture, 139 shrines did not damage by the Tsunami within 215 shrines. When the Tsunami reached the inland area, such shrines were standing on the very edge of the waves when the Tsunami hit. The shrine that remained intact was a shrine dedicated to Susano-o, the god of water and pestilence, after the disaster.
Non-suffered shrines
The new emergency network
The site
The river
housings Main road
dyke
The new emergency path
Theme2- replanting archipelago by Mitate technique
the
1:1000 in A1
Japanese animism-driven religion called Shinto is all about natural cycles, interacting, and living with them.
This understanding of the world is embedded in traditional design practices that take inspiration from observations of landscape scenery, such as the traditional dry gardens called “Mitate“
As an homage to this creative practice, the new topography of the gardens is carefully shaped through the figure of the Matsushima archipelago, a worshipped landscape in the same prefecture as Kitakami.
Mitate technique in the rock garden in Kyoto
Matsushima archipelago
Transplanting
shapes of archipelago to the site
Original contours New archipelagos
Matsushima islands
Along the river
A _ Dune forest
Terrace 1
B _ Glasswort garden
C_ Reed garden
Terrace2
D _ Spring garden
Terrace 3
E _ Rice paddies and orchard
F _ Belvedere
My thesis is that the unfit and generic solution is also alien to traditional Japanese cultural practices, as it relies on an inflexible tool that aims to tame nature rather than dialogue with it and explore the dynamics of Tsunami landscapes. The site plan was designed to reduce the risk of salt damage in the long term. By land forming, three different terraces create special features on each space with Halophyte species to deciduous trees and practical plants.
C_ Reed garden_Terrace 1
Common reeds surround the observation spot for the winter solstice. Japanese black pines are planted on the placed archipelago. This space will be filled with water during small floods or gentle tsunamis, and the platform will be sunk under the water.
Gateway to Marka is a project that aims to promote New Norwegians (Immigrants) integration into the Norwegian culture by using the path system in the forest as a public space. Easily accessible paths with water channels and adjacent paths in Lilomarka enhance the opportunity to meet Norwegian nature. The water channels connect to several small dams deeper in the Marka and Vesletjern, where a Hindu Festival annually occurs.
The project facilitates special occasions and everyday uses by connecting water, forest, culture, and people.
Web Archive: https://www.are.na/studio-on-ice/gateway-to-marka-006-2b0-1
RESEARCH & ANALYSIS
Site and its landscape
The ice ponds of the Oslo Region were originally built in the late 19th century to export ice, mainly to London. Once the backbone of a thriving economy, these ponds are now perceived as natural elements of the landscape.
Producing Norwegian ice was a sophisticated process. Creeks were dammed, and ponds were constructed in agricultural areas equipped with shipping infrastructure to handle heavy loads. This industry provided local farmers and shipping crews with additional income.
Vesletjern lies between the Marka forest and the Grorud residential area, while Lilomarka is a familiar and cherished public space for the community.
Pond Location
Aerial View
Tracing of Geological Formation
The area mainly consists of bedrock. The rocky layer is not porous and does not store large amounts of water internally. It is necessary to establish other types of water collection and storage systems. Due to climate change in the future, water supply problems could happen in the lake during dry seasons.
The pond and its catchment area
Vesletjern did a metamorphosis from being a farm lake to become a recreational and holy lake.
In 1923, the ice production started in the pond to sell to the Oslo kommune. In 1928, the shape of the lake changed due to the mechanized work of the production. The lake needed a geometrically defined shape, and the vegetation was removed. The ice operation stopped in 1945. In 1960 the pond was dammed, and its extension grows more than the double. In 2012 the dam was replaced by concrete material.
The target is mainly new Norwegians and locals. The idea is to integrate them into the concept and practice of the right to roam, one of the Norwegian culture’s bases.
The project works as an articulating function between the city and the forest, creating unique public paths that invite new Norwegians to visit the forest as a fascinating area.
The inner steps of the pool are designed for meditating space, intended to change the mind from daily life to deeper consciousness.
Making visible the rocky soil, retracing the changes in the forest and the pond
between the intervention and the gateways
Water and Walking path
Paths in the forest - Structure and forest tissue -
Between marka and urban tissue
Section Perspective -full-
Section Perspective -dry-
A strict line makes visible the location of the dam
Inflow and outflow to the inner lake
Model of intervention -the gateway to Marka-
THE PUBLIC LIVING ROOM
-In Transit Studio-
Location:
Oslo, Norway (On-site)
Project type
The third semester in Master program
Supervised by Håvard Breivik-Khan
Tone Selmer-Olsen
Paul-Antoine Yves Marie Lucas
Date August-December, 2021
Partly collaborated with Lea Giamberini (Analysis part)
Tools
Rhino, ArcGIS pro, AutoCAD, Illustrator, InDesign, Photoshop, Random interviewing
Role
Researching the site information, interviewing people, developing main concept ideas, providing graphics, maps and analysis, creating a model
This project transforms Grorud Metro Station into a vibrant, community-focused space, connecting the station and shopping mall while prioritizing pedestrians. Mjelva’s iconic HP shell roof, a bold architectural feature, is reimagined as the centerpiece of the redesign.
The revitalized station area creates a safe, inviting environment by retaining the existing metro structure and adding new public facilities. A modern building offers seating, rest areas, and a Red Cross-operated exchange library, conveniently positioned near the metro platform stairs.
A 9.7m grid, inspired by the shell roof, ties the design together, blending the site’s historical significance with its future aspirations. This project transforms Grorud into a lively and inclusive hub, celebrating its evolving identity within Groruddalen.
1.Grorudallen situate the outer-east side of Oslo central, consisting of six Drabantbyer (Satellite towns) of Oslo.
2.More than 9500 years ago, the place was once “Grorudfjorden. Grorudgranitt-Nonarkitt formed, which became a major income for the rock industry around the 1820s-1870s
3. The main railway opened to transport the goods and people from central. Dramatic landscape utilized as a ski slope, and afterward became the settlements of industries and factories.
4. Visible trees show the current natural environment around the area. Following the piped water indicates impermeable surfaces -concrete- cover the land.
1. Groruddalen Oslo
2. Geology
Map in 1874
3. History 4.Water and Nature
Social
1. The public living room Collaborator Red and Cross organization for Youth Focal users_ Commuters and Youth
2. The roof top community garden Collaborator Grorud center Focal users_ Residents in the adjacent apartment buildings
3. The art studio and event space Collaborator urbansamtidskunst Focal users_ Local parents, families and new residents (immigrants)
Connections with existing functions and new intervention New intervention Existing functions Co-relations
Underground connection to the urban tissue
Taxi stand
Norwegian architect Håkon Mjelva designed the Grorud metro station and the surrounding areas in 1960. However, his design for a new bus terminal located on the other side was never realized due to a lack of financial support at the time. The Grorud shopping mall was completed in 1960 designed by architect Halard Klem and rebuilt in the square surrounded by four different residential buildings.
Projecting roof grid to the floor
Expands
Fillet and creating pocket
STATION designed by Håkon Mjelva
HP shell structure
Spacial and material experiment model photo
Re-integrate/ Rejuvenate
Reveal
Re-integrate
Rejuvenate
Reveal/
Material Palette Grorudgranitt Concrete Brass+concrete
Grass Wood Coloured Pavement Corten Steel
Reveal
Rejuvenate
Reveal section
Rejuvenate Section
HAND DRAWINGS
Water colours, pens, pencils, Acrylic colour, Oil painting, Charcoal
What I gained
Before entering art university, I spent three years developing essential representation skills. During this time, I completed over 100 drawings and honed my expertise in physical model-making. This training allowed me to work with a variety of materials, textures, and techniques, expanding my creative knowledge and enhancing my ability to visualize and communicate ideas effectively to others.
-Observation skills ranging from attention to detail to a broader perspective, with a deep understanding of relationships between elements.
-Proficiency from 2D drawings to 3D models, effectively capturing relationships, atmosphere, and intricate details.
-Design expertise applicable to architecture and landscape design, ensuring coherence and completeness throughout the creative process.
-Perseverance, to continuously analyse and gain deeper insights through focused observation.
Pencil sketches on 670 x 514 mm
HOW I CAN CONTRIBUTE
Field research to Implement several projects
1. Field research of Infield Studio in Santiniketan Group work/Workshop/2017/India
2. The lighting installation on new years eve in a temple Group work/Extracurricular besides university/2012/Japan
3. The Japan red cross society collaboration, designing the graphic advertisement for blood donation Group work/Project-based learning in university curriculum/2012/Japan
Hand drawings to the digital renderings, 3D models
4. An image of renovation project in Yokohama Individual/ Prerequisite studio project/2013/Japan
5. Section perspective drawing in the Green fields of Hovinbyen Individual/ Prerequisite in Master program/2019/Norway
6. The model of the studio Green fields of Hovinbyen Individual/Prerequisite in Master program/2019/Norway
2/53 Church St, Randwick NSW2031 Sydney, Australia
