Grin Grin

 

Architect: Toyo Ito

Complete: 2005
Function: Park, Botanical Garden

Grin Grin is a botanical garden made with conclete shell structure designed by Toyo Ito. It is located in the central park of artifical island called "Fukuoka Island City". "Grin Grin" has two meanings in Japanese; "green green" (for function) and "round and round" (for shape); so it sounds like "environmentally-friendly green parks".

 

Ito's design is composed of three covered areas strung, like irregular pearls on a string, along the side of a pea-shaped lake. A complex series of walkways take people up, over, underneath, and into the three shells, if you will. Each shell is partially covered by glass roofs articulated in a scale-like manner; the rest is covered by vegetation. Portions of the domes cantilever to provide shade and shelter, while also signaling entries and making suitable seating areas.

 

The interior spaces appear to meander in the same manner as the exterior pathways. This is suitable for what are basically greenhouses, or the compartmentalization of nature by humans. Ito embraces the apparently irregular qualities of nature's ever-evolving presence. These forms allow for a multitude of experiences across his architecture, an important consideration for an island city so close, yet so far removed from the landlocked city.

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Address:
4 Kashii-teruha, Higashi-ku, Fukuoka, Japan

Opening hours:
Park: 7/24. Botanical garden: 9:00-17:00, closed on every Tuesday and 29.12-3.1

Enterance fee:
100 JPY(adult)

How to get there:
Take bus (from Tenjin: 210 or 22N or 4-1 / from Hakata: 29-N or 29) and get off at "Island City Chuokoen-mae（アイランドシティ中央公園前）". It takes about 30 minutes and costs 420 JPY.

Website:
http://ic-park.jp/index.html

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