There is a deserted shopping street behind the redeveloping city center in Ikebukuro, Tokyo.　Answering to the competitions’ theme ‘Rental housing contributing to the better quality of the district,’ we have proposed a shared housing as an opportunity to revitalize the shopping street.

 

The site has been chosen as four separate sites facing each other through an intersection of the street. The minimum sized bedrooms are placed in the perimeter to create the rectangle-shaped square beyond the intersection.

Just like pocket parks which is characteristic of East Ikebukuro area, the square becomes the place where both residents and people living in the neighborhood can stay and communicate each other.

 

The activated square would become a starting point to revitalize the shopping street and East Ikebukuro neighborhood.

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