ACROS Building

ACROS Building in Fukuoka, Japan by Emilio Ambasz & Associates, 1995

Attempting to achieve a balance between environmental and artistic aims, International Hall (aka ACROS Building) in Fukuoka Japan exhibits Emilio Ambasz & Associates' continued search for a widely accepted "green architecture". Sited on the last piece of green space in the city center, Ambasz's approach of terracing the south facade as an extension of the adjacent existing park, while continuing the street wall on the north, illustrates his attempt at balancing two, often incompatible ideas. In a country where land is a precious commodity the ACROS Building acts as both building and park, giving back what it takes from the land. In that simple gesture it redefines what an urban park can be.

The unpopularity of so-called "green architecture" is largely based on early attempts at ecological design (hippy communes and underground, or bermed, houses, for example). Recent projects by well-known architects illustrate that good design and eco-consciousness can co-exist, though Ambasz's design does not equal the architectural beauty of either Foster's Commerzbank or Piano's Jean-Marie Tjibaou Cultural Center. But it is apparent that Ambasz is trying to find an architectural language for his commendable ideas to rejuvenate and "green" the city.

The fifteen-story building contains an exhibition hall, museum, theater, offices, underground parking and retail, over one million square feet of program area, centered around a full-height atrium, oriented towards the south. Unfortunately where outside the gray mass of the building is balanced by profuse vegetation no relief seems to exist inside. Ambasz's creed, "green over gray" appears to have been reversed in the bland, monotonous tones of the atrium, which fortunately is bathed in light from the terraced south facade.

Completed in 1995 the building is a success in its native land, its terraced south facade utilized by many in the area for exercise and rest, affording views of the city and the harbor beyond. Unfortunately it has received little press overseas, especially in the United States, a country without Japan's starvation for usable land. But Ambasz's disenfranchisement is due more to his aesthetics than his ethics, or more importantly the public's view that architecture is not a solution to society's ills (a belief created by the death of Modernism and perpetuated by Postmodern folly). While it is not the intent to argue that belief here it is difficult to ignore the negative impact buildings and cities have on the environment, and that architecture (and the ACROS Building is an example) can become a powerful force to lessen or remedy these wrongs in the future.