TOKYO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The Japan Institute of Design Promotion (JDP : Minato-ku, Tokyo) announced that the Good Design Grand Award for 2023 has been awarded to the “Long house with an engawa”, a Senior Daycare Center.
The Good Design Grand Award is the highest award given to one of the winners of the annual Good Design Awards. Since 1980, the Good Design Grand Award has produced various famous designs as it symbolizes today's society and a suitable symbol of what design can do in the future.
“Long house with an engawa” was selected from among 1,548 entries for the Good Design Award 2023 by a vote of the jury members and award winners.
2023 Good Design Grand Award (Prime Minister’s award)
Senior Daycare Center, Long house with an engawa
Winner: ALL FOR ONE Co., Ltd. + KENTARO YAMAZAKI DESIGNWORKSHOP Co., Ltd.
Producer : Akane Miyamoto, wacca + Yuichi Asa, nano-associates
Designer : KENTARO YAMAZAKI ,YAMAZAKI KENTARO DESIGN WORKSHOP Co., Ltd. + Shuji Tada Structural Design Office + Inada Landscape Design Office + BONBORI Lighting Architect & Associates, Inc.
Location Yachiyo City, Chiba Prefecture
Site Area 1,585.85sqm Gross Floor Area 424.24㎡ Floor Area 493.30sqm Wooden/Basement 1st floor
Design Summary
This project is a welfare facility designed to care for the elderly. The design is like Japanese traditional porch "Engawa" where locals can drop in casually. It's also a community base for welfare that is a place for the elderly, children, and locals to help each other in times of trouble.
Key design points
- A day service facility that is not dependent on the system, but a community-based day service facility that fosters mutual support and coexistence among local society and individuals.
- The facility is designed as an architectural embodiment of a small town, with a café, a temple lodging, a day service, and a public bath, where the place open to everyone.
- The Engawa that connects the facilities to the community with various accesses. The Engawa where everyone can spend time together. The Engawa for each individual to have a good time.
Jury’s Evaluations
It is a place where people can help each other in the community. It’s unconventional day-care service. It’s operated as a day-care facility, but welcomes everyone from babies to the elderly, which is so wonderful. Perhaps there are supporters who agree with the community vision and a support system where people can help each other. The elderly are not only supported, but watch over children. Children help the adults. Everyone helps each other. It reminds us of old times. The long engawa-style deck and wide space under the roof embody the concept beautifully and cause the actual situation. It seems that he has conducted workshops on garden building and has been working hard to create a place of trust. Its steady approach is also highly commendable.
Good Design Award winners' comments
In an age when efficiency and convenience are demanded in various aspects, we created this facility because we believe that the elderly need a place where they can live with dignity as human beings. We believe that the happiness for those elderly often comes from daily communication with children and people of various generations. Through this facility, we are hoping to bring back the views of a society where not only the elderly but also everyone can live happily by communicating with each other which are being lost in today's society. (Hidekazu Ishii / President, ALL FOR ONE Co., Ltd.)
Designer Profile
YAMAZAKI KENTARO
Architect / Representative Director, YAMAZAKI KENTARO DESIGN WORKSHOP Co., Ltd.
Yamazaki designed Itoman Gyomin Shokudo constructed by piling Ryukyu limestone with residents in Okinawa, Hakusui Nursery School stair-like building by utilizing a slope, Hospice in Shinfuji filled with common scenery and ambience. He has won many awards in Japan and overseas, including the JIA Architecture Award, AIJ New Architect Award, iF DESIGN AWARD Gold. Yamazaki aims to design buildings that are not sensational but accepted by people from children to older adults as a part of their lives. Yamazaki is a part-time lecturer at Kogakuin University, Tokyo University of Science, Hosei University and Waseda University.
【Reference: Proposal by the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare for the Realization of a Comprehensive Care System for the Elderly】
Japan is experiencing a rapid aging process unparalleled in other countries. The population of individuals aged 65 and over now exceeding 35 million and expected to peak in 2042 at about 39 million. Furthermore, the percentage of the population aged 75 and over is expected to continue increasing.
Under these circumstances, the demand for medical care and long-term care services is expected to further increase after 2025, when the baby-boom generation will reach 75 years of age or older. Therefore, the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare (MHLW) is promoting the establishment of a comprehensive regional support and service system for local communities (the Community-based Integrated Care System) with the goal of preserving the dignity and supporting independent living for the elderly. This system aims to enable individuals to continue living in their familiar communities and lead a life true to themselves until the end of their days, with a target of around 2025.
(Source: Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare website)
Reference／About Good Design Award
The only comprehensive design evaluation and promotion mechanism in Japan. Together with G Mark, it has been recognized by a wide range of people for more than 60 years, and has continued its activities to make people's lives and society better through design.
