Namba Parks, Osaka, Japan

2009 Winner ULI Awards of Excellence: Asia Pacific / 'Green' TOD Design for People
Namba Parks, located in Osaka, Japan, was named as one of four outstanding developments selected as a winner of the Urban Land Institute’s (ULI) 2009 Awards of Excellence: Asia Pacific competition.

Designed by The Jerde Partnership, Namba Parks sits adjacent to the Namba train station. It was conceived as a natural amenity in the city, literally an urban jungle, offering a sloping rooftop park that is bifurcated by a sinuous, open-air “canyon” path that reinforces the connection with nature while forming the primary circulation pattern.

Namba forms a dramatic new identity for the city. Alongside a 30-storey office tower and 46-storey residential tower, the project features a new lifestyle commercial center with a rooftop park that crosses multiple blocks while gradually ascending eight levels from the streets of the city. The sloping nature of the park serves as a green and highly visible oasis in a city where nature is sparse. By connecting to the street, the sloping park plane will draw people up and into the project among groves of trees, green spaces, water features and outdoor terraces, where they can dine, read, socialize, or simply taking in views of the city.

The second phase, completed in 2007, physically extends the sloping rooftop park, which rises from eight to 10 levels, and canyon, which opens just above the street on the end of the project opposite the train station.

Namba is a benchmark example of Green Transit-Oriented Development where economic performance and quality green design emerge as a single objective.

source: www.worldarchitecturenews.com
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