艺术与设计 - "Wind Chimney" Children's Care Home in Okinawa, Japan

This program is aimed at children with intractable illnesses and families with travel difficulties to help them regain vitality in their daily lives, because for many of them, this may be their last time Preparing to travel together. "Guarding the dream of children with intractable diseases and their families", the design aims to provide them with a place where "children are like children and parents are like parents", rather than a humble facility that treats children as patients. Here, the families deepen their bond with each other through travel experiences, and if the child eventually dies, it is a place where families can revisit and spend time quietly reminiscing. In addition, it is an educational place to guide people to support each other, empathize with each other, and gain more goodwill.

The client wanted the project to be a single-storey building surrounded by plants, just like a typical Okinawan building, where people can look out to the vast sea from the second floor of the building. In this building, families and staff can spend their final moments peacefully with the children, aware of each other's presence.

When designing, the architects imagined themselves as the sick family, snuggling up next to bedridden children who couldn't play like healthy children and stared at the ceiling or windows all day. Taking into account the children's eye level and body scale, the architects specially designed the sliding glass doors, so that the children can enjoy the outside scenery and feel the outside breeze even if they are lying on their side. The low entrance and ceiling cater to children’s body scales. The ceiling is connected to a wind tunnel with a height of 8 meters and a diameter of about 1.8 meters. The top of the wind tunnel is equipped with a skylight, so that the children can look up to the sky when they lie flat. During the day, the wind chimney draws in the sea breeze from a height, and at the same time circulates the air through the pulling effect, creating a circulation between the sea breeze and the cool air in the garden on the north side.

For physically handicapped children, the wind carries a lot of information: the sea breeze blowing through the pine forest, the singing of insects and birds, the fragrance of local flowers, the moist breath of mist and rain... The architect imagined these images as "the scenery of the wind” (in Japanese, the word “wind” consists of two words, namely, “wind” and “landscape”), and “the scenery of the wind” connects children with the environment of Okinawa.

The building has a circular plan and all rooms are open to the surroundings. Spaces where people gather, such as communal bathrooms and the living-dining-kitchen area, are oriented towards the garden and have plenty of natural light, while the four compact guest rooms are slightly darker and quieter and are designed to provide a comfortable rest for children who tend to tire easily Ambience. The architect studied the wind direction and frequency statistics released by the Japan Meteorological Agency, and after on-site investigation, found that the wind would blow up from the ocean and river below the cliff in the afternoon, and down from the mountain in the evening. The design of the water courtyard is According to the wind direction.

Cool winds blow over the pool in the center, caused by the temperature difference between the building and the courtyard's periphery. The drizzle and breeze enter the interior through the glassless skylight, and the sunlight and colorful clouds continuously circulate in this introspective space. As people sit on the wall benches in this serene hall, light filters through the skylight, reflects on the pool, and ripples on the ceiling, quivering like flames. The architects call it a "fire in the heart" and see it as an encouragement to families with children. From the circular bench in the center of the roof garden, one can enjoy a 360-degree panoramic view of the turquoise sea, the town, and the sugar cane fields. In terms of space design, the centripetal water courtyard and the centrifugal roof garden form a static and dynamic contrast.

The outdoor stairs are designed to make it easier for staff and parents to push their children's wheelchairs. Stairs are often considered a hindrance for people with limited mobility, however in this project, they are considered a positive symbol that evokes empathy and memories. This design is based on the client's philosophy, he believes: "Accessible design can protect their freedom and dignity, but we cannot remove all barriers. Instead, we need to pay attention to the physical and psychologicalbarriersexistence in all of us, then understand each other and help each other. These 'barriers' are the best opportunity to make everything happen."

The design of the project takes into account the level of sight of children and human scale, but for able-bodied people these low spaces can be a hindrance. This kind of spatial scale is precisely what the architects did, aiming to allow able-bodied people to get educational enlightenment through personal experience, and this is also the basis for the concept of a comprehensive barrier-free society. Through this "behavioral practice", the project demonstrates a humane social caring attitude.