Tokyo waterfront : an urban intervention to the Kita-Shinagawa water's edge

The Tokyo Waterfront has been in the re¬cent decades an area where important is¬sues have been raised. Since its concep¬tion, the district has gone through many changes in terms of urban planning and architecture. The first interventions were basically focused on transportation and distributions of goods, which were carried through waterways. Later on, the devel¬opment of the waterfront also included recreational and pleasure activities. Over time, with the advance of trains and loco¬motives, these places became a priority in which to allocate merchandise distributing terminals, factories, warehouses and train tracks.

Being reclaimed land from the river, the waterfront has grown steadily. Places that were once the periphery facing the open sea have become today into the inner parts of the metropolis. Meanwhile, the connection to the water was kept through reduced size channels. This produced a reduction in recreational and public areas and an exponential increase in the Indus¬trial activities. Among the consequences of this process, the Waterfront faced many environmental and planning problems like pollution of the water and lacking basic urban infrastructure. And today, there are many organizations and foundations that are trying to recuperate and to revive the Waterfront’s conditions.

Kita-Shinagawa is one of the districts of Tokyo Waterfront which have a particular atmosphere. The mixture of architecture’s typologies, different activities and the presence of water make it a very fascinat¬ing place. Besides its interesting variety of use, it is lacking of public and cultural spaces and proper connection with water, a constant factor throughout the major part of the Waterfront.

As a response to this issue, this thesis aims to develop an Urban Intervention to the Ki¬ta-Shinagawa water’s edge by the regen¬eration of public areas, increase the bond with water and Introduce new public uses keeping the pedestrian’ priority in mind. With the main goal of giving back the lively and active dynamism that has faded with the passage of time.

This Thesis is structured as follows:

The first chapter establishes an introduc¬tion explaining the reasons that made me go there to develop this project. The first approach to the site and the facts that I found interesting to choose it are included as well.

The second Chapter “Waterfront through Time” deals with the historical periods that the district have gone through, remarkable events and their influence in its develop¬ment. Starting in the ancient times with the first urbanization of the Waterfront in the Edo Era (1603-1868), then with the reno¬vation inspired in the western cities during the Meiji Era (1868-1912), the beginning of the industrialization and reconstruction af¬ter the great earthquake (1912-1945) and finally the Modern Time influenced by the rapid economic growth and development of High-rise structures near the canals.

The Third Chapter “Kita-Shinagawa Now¬adays” focuses on reading the current conditions of the water edge by analyzing uses, heights, mobility greenery, public places and architectural typologies pres¬ent in the area. A first step into the proposal of a new Masterplan.

The final Chapter “Kita-Shinagawa Tomor¬row” presents the conclusion of the study with the new urban intervention carried by a Masterplan as response to the preced¬ing analysis. With the introduction of a New Linear park connecting cultural and resi¬dential uses, the main goal is to recuperate the link city-water. The proposal is support¬ed by schemes, sketches, technical plans and renders.

All data collection, analysis and design process is developed within the Jinnai's Lab at Hosei University and visits to the site, under the Supervision of Professors Hidenobu Jinnai and Lorena Alessio.