Obama Village

小浜ヴィレッジ

Obama Village is a new type of community revitalization project initiated by the private sector. It was built in Obama, a small seaside town with a population of just 650 people, overlooking Kinkou Bay and the magnificent Sakurajima volcano. Despite the beautiful surroundings and rich local history, the population has been in decline for recent years. Across the 7000m2 site, we have crammed in a variety of new activities in an approach to establish new community. The office buildings are built from local timber and combine qualities that are both primitive and contemporary, creating a comfortable space in which employees can be proud to work. The hill-like tenant building is lined with shops including a bakery, cafe and a brewery, whose collective form creates the face of the project, attracting newcomers to join the community. Throughout the project process we organized field surveys and workshops to maintain constant dialogue with local people and the local environment. It was vital for us to respect the way of life on the land as a starting point to design. We considered how to refine the potential of Obama and balance human activities with the abundance of nature. And equally, how we can we achieve this with a limited budget and minimal government intervention. Since completion we have stayed on as active members of the village, setting up a branch office on site and holding regular landscape and community building workshops. We recently oversaw the construction of a biogeofilter, which purifies wastewater on site with the help of microorganisms and plants. The biogeofilter becomes an integral part of the landscape, increasing the number of living organisms on site and ultimately having a positive impact on the greater environment.