Kannai Blade住宅–因其外墙与薄而透明的混凝土鳍相交而得名–是由日本建筑工作室Key Corporation Inc.设计的。它位于一个拐角处，距离交通便利的横滨关内火车站只有5分钟的步行路程，离东京市中心不远。

The Kannai Blade Residence – so called because its facades are intersected with thin, bladelike concrete fins – has been designed by the Japanese architectural studio Key Corporation Inc. It sits on a corner site within a 5-minute walk of the well-connected Yokohama Kannai Train Station, not far from central Tokyo.

新的11层住宅区取代了战后的4层办公大楼，即 “黑町2丁目第一共同社大楼”。原来的建筑是由宫内建筑事务所设计的，具有当时的典型风格，用混凝土建造，具有坚固和低层的特点，起到了防火的作用。二战期间，横滨市的大部分地区被夷为平地，导致政府发起的重建工作，以符合严格的消防法规。目前，同一地区正面临着通过私人融资倡议（PFI）资助重建的快速变化。在观内刀锋住宅区对面的场地，将容纳新的横滨联合竞技场，它是在横滨文化体育馆（为1964年东京奥运会而建，于2020年拆除）的基础上改建的。在附近。

The new 11-storey housing block replaces the 4-storey post-war office building known as “Furocho 2-chome Daiichi Kyodo Building.” The original building was designed by Miyauchi Architects in a style typical of the time, built in concrete, characteristically robust and low-rise, functioning as a firebreak. During WWII, much of Yokohama City was razed to the ground leading to the government-sponsored reconstruction efforts to comply with strict fire regulations. The same area is currently facing rapid changes through Private Finance Initiative, PFI, funded redevelopment. The site across the street from the Kannai Blade Residence will accommodate the new Yokohama United Arena, remodeled after the Yokohama Cultural Gymnasium (built in time for 1964 Tokyo Olympics and demolished in 2020). In the vicinity,

关东学院大学的新校园建筑已接近完工。这座楼建在曾经是前川邦夫文化教育中心的地方，建于1974年，现在被认为结构不符合今天的抗震标准而拆除。Kannai Blade住宅由94个私人拥有的单间公寓组成。每个单元都非常小，建筑面积在22平方米到47平方米之间。它们就是日本人所说的 “一室一厅”，适合单身居民或没有孩子的年轻夫妇居住。

a new campus building for Kantou Gakuin University is nearing completion. This is being built on the site that used to accommodate Kunio Maekawa’s Cultural Educational Centre, built in 1974, now demolished after it was deemed that the structure was not compliant with today’s seismic standards. The Kannai Blade Residence consists of ninety-four privately-owned studio flats. The individual units are very small, with their floor areas ranging between 22m2 to 47m2. They are what the Japanese call ‘one-room-mansion’ suitable for single dwellers or young couples without children.

由于该地区许多战后建筑仍然存在，因此有一种在日本城市中心的其他街区很少见的统一性。他们的低层水平混凝土结构，坚实而又开放，很有特色，在今天的高楼大厦中很容易被发现。毗邻大街道的角楼（作为防火隔离带）通常是倒角的，进一步强调了该地区的宽敞感和不寻常的统一性。因此，我们特别注意设计一个有特色的建筑，以配合它周围的战后建筑。我们的策略是强调混凝土楼板，以放大和呼应该地区的水平线性。我们还使用了薄如纸的混凝土翅片（厚度为40毫米）来打破单调，并引入俏皮的元素。

Because many of the post-war buildings still survive in this area, there is a uniformity rarely seen in other neighborhoods of urban centers in Japan. Their low-rise, horizontal concrete structures, solid yet open and accessible, are very distinctive and can easily be spotted amongst today’s high-rise towers. The corner buildings abutting large streets (functioning as firebreaks) are usually chamfered, further emphasizing the area’s spacious feel and unusual uniformity. Particular attention was therefore paid to design a characterful building to match the post-war buildings surrounding it. Our strategy was to emphasize the concrete floor slabs in order to amplify and echo the area’s horizontal linearity. We also used the paper-thin concrete fins (40mm in thickness) to break the monotony and introduce playfulness.

垂直的混凝土板被随机地添加到立面上，掩盖了它们后面的小单元。板块虽然很薄，但并不显眼，与各个单元的规模相称。每个单元的宽度只有2.9米。面板的深度从200毫米到900毫米不等，有的作为砖墙，有的作为不同单元之间的隔墙，而有的则更具有装饰性，能将城市的景色框住。

The vertical concrete panels have been added to the façade randomly, concealing the small units behind them. Panels, thin as they are, are unobtrusive, befitting the scale of the individual units. Each unit has a width of just 2.9 meters. The depth of panels vary between 200mm to 900mm, with some functioning as brise-soleil and some as dividing walls between different units, whilst others are more decorative, framing views of the city.

在日本，阳台几乎是豪宅区的必修课，因为它是一种纳入逃生梯的手段，以避免过多的内部楼梯，为每个单位提供更多的空间。这导致他们看起来很公式化和单调。混凝土翅片是故意不反映内部结构的。薄薄的硅酸钙板被谨慎地藏在这些鳍片后面。在紧急情况下，它们可以很容易地被推倒，居民可以使用安装在每层的逃生梯子逃生。

In Japan, balconies are almost obligatory for mansion blocks as a mean of incorporating escape ladders to avoid excessive internal staircases, allowing for more space for individual flats. This results in them looking formulaic and monotonous. The concrete fins are deliberately made not to reflect the internal structure. Thin calcium silicate boards are discreetly tucked away behind these fins. In case of emergencies, they can be pushed down easily and the residents can escape using the escape ladders installed on each floor.

新建筑是倒角的，就像这个地区的许多其他转角建筑一样。我们通过将首层楼板伸出外墙，然后将翅片包裹在建筑的转角处来达到这种效果。外墙的混凝土翅片是用混合预应力混凝土或HPC制成的。它们是由日本HPC冲绳公司在2015年开发并获得专利的。该住宅区使用的面板是由日本南部鸟取县的Kooge混凝土公司制造的。

The new building is chamfered as many other corner buildings are in this area. We achieved this effect by extending the first floor slabs out of the façade then wrapping the fins around the corner of building. The concrete fins on the façade are made with Hybrid Prestressed Concrete or HPC. They have been developed and patented by the Japanese company HPC Okinawa in 2015. The panels used in this housing block have been manufactured by Kooge Concrete company in Tottori prefecture, south of Japan.

通过使用缠绕的碳缆而不是通常的钢棒来加固混凝土，并通过添加聚丙烯纤维来加强混合物，这种面板可以做得薄至40毫米，高至5米，并且令人难以置信地仍然是承重的。然而，目前，日本的建筑法规不允许在结构上使用这些面板。我们还使用HPC板创造了特殊的雕塑作品，以照亮建筑物内的公共入口区。我们在混凝土板上浇铸了圆形的亚克力模具，它们像夜空中的星星一样亮起来。宽敞的入口区也是东京和横滨等建筑区的 “单间豪宅 “通常不具备的额外奢华。

By using enmeshed carbon cables instead of the usual steel rods to reinforce concrete and by adding polypropylene fiber to strengthen the mixture, the panels can be made as thin as 40mm, as tall as 5 meters, and incredibly still be load-bearing. Currently, however, the Japanese building regulations do not permit the use of these panels structurally. We also create special sculptural pieces using HPC panels to light up the communal entrance area inside the building. We cast circular acrylic molds into the concrete panels and they light up like the night sky with stars. The generously-proportioned entrance area is also an added luxury not usually granted to ‘one-room mansion’ blocks in built areas such as Tokyo and Yokohama.

位于住宅顶层的一个单元很宽敞，有天灯和额外的卧室。所有的单位都以白色、灰色和黑色为最低限度的色调进行装饰。房间铺设了木质地板。厨房和公用事业空间被整齐地藏在入口处的走廊上，门在转角处相互滑动，以腾出更多空间并提供某种形式的隐私。如上所述，由于外立面有阳台的要求，日本的豪宅区往往看起来非常相似。我们特别注意确保锅炉和空调设备放置在阳台外面（根据日本的规范），尽可能谨慎地隐藏起来。扶手、外墙和阳台的天花板都被涂成黑色。我们想把混凝土的浅灰色带出来。

One unit on the top level of the residence is spacious with sky lights and extra bedrooms. All the flats have been decorated with a minimum palette of white, grey and black. Rooms are laid with timber flooring. Kitchen and utility spaces have been tucked away neatly along the entrance hallway and doors are made to slide over one another at corners to make more space and provide some form of privacy. As mentioned above, the Japanese mansion blocks tend to look very similar due to the requirement of the balconies on the façade. We took extra care to make sure that the boilers and air-conditioning units placed outside on the balconies (per the norm in Japan) as discreetly tucked away as possible. Handrails, exterior walls and the balcony ceilings have been painted black. We wanted to bring out the light grey colour of concrete.

当你从正面看整个建筑时，这些混凝土鳍片就像武士的剑一样锋利地划破空气。然而，如果你从侧面看这些建筑，你可以开始欣赏裸露的混凝土的纹理，它的外观随着光线的强度而改变。外墙设计倾向于反映内部结构，但我们想尝试和发挥这种规范，使新建筑与该地区的战后建筑产生共鸣。通过薄薄的混凝土板，各个单位感觉更加开放，并与外部世界相连，保留了一种既是人又是城市的规模感。

When you look at the entire building from the front elevation, these concrete fins appear as sharp as a Samurai’s sword cutting through the air. If you look at the buildings from the side, however, you can begin to appreciate the texture of the exposed concrete, which changes its appearance with the intensity of the light. Façade designs tend to reflect the interior structures but we wanted to experiment and play against such a norm so that the new building resonated with the post-war buildings in the area. The individual flats feel more open and connected with the outside world through the thin concrete panels, retaining a sense of scale that is both human and urban.

Architects: KEY OPERATION INC. / ARCHITECTS
Area: 3251 m²
Year: 2021
Photographs: Toshiyuki Yano
Contractor: Fujiki Komuten
Structural Engineering: Delta Structural Consultants
Service Engineering: Comodo Service Planning
Client:Tohshin Partners
Architect:Akira Koyama + Key Operation Inc./ Architects
City:Yokohama
Country:Japan