Yokohama: Yokohama Port Terminal (Japan)

The Yokohama Port Terminal Competition of 1995 had 660 entries and was won by Farshid Moussavi and Alejandro Zaera-Polo, known as Foreign Office Architects. The design merged the ideas of terminal and public space and created a multi-layered circulation system allowing for multiple public uses, especially in non-terminal mode. The non-cartesian design was also made possible through the evolution of computer design systems and manufacturing processes allowing for the simplification of extremely complex geometries.

Opened in 2002, the completed design is a hybrid – with its timber boarding it is a combination of pier and boardwalk or sometimes even boat, with its grassed areas it is a park, and with its various column-free spaces it is a gathering space for passengers and concert goers alike. There are some beautiful details and wonderful whimsical elements where boardwalks curl up into walls or peel off into shade structures, where balustrades tilt and turn to keep people safe, and where you just stroll and meander and take in the sights, even on a slightly murky, hazy day.