People :The winner of the idea competition for a New Urban Design for Nihonbashi
Mr. Norimune Takahashi

Norimune Takahashi Born 1980 in Gunma prefecture, Mr. Takahashi graduated from Numata Prefectural High school. Mr Takahashi graduated from the School of Science and Engineering, and now he is a second year MEng student at the Graduate School of Science and Engineering. He belongs to Professor You Sasaki’s laboratory. His hobby is watching movies.

A collaborative project of four members of Professor Sasaski's laboratory including Mr Takahashi won the top award in an idea competition for a new urban design for Nihonbashi. The work called “Kashi-Complex” was a proposal to build a composite structure incorporating the capital expressway and several buildings along the River Nihonbashi. The idea is to revive the image of the storehouses which used to contain cargo along riverside, to open shops arranged in a modern way, and to convert the waterside into an attractive space where the people can interact.

The landscape of Nihonbashi River, when there were storehouses along the riverside, was so beautiful that its picture appeared in an illustrated book of sites to see. The capital expressway has become a blot on the landscape. However, the team's idea aimed at symbiosis, not an underground tunnel. They wanted to recover the excitement among this whole part of Nihonbashi. The experts judged that there was a the good possibility of realizing the plans and awarded them the prize.

When he was a first year high school student, Mr. Takahashi visited the Nishi-Waseda campus and was impressed by the beauty of Okuma Auditorium. From then on, his goal was to enter Waseda University. "But when I came to Waseda, it was at the Okubo campus," he says with a smile. He demonstrated leadership as the secretary of Gunma Tomonkai (a club organized by the students who came from Gunma Prefecture) and also made youth movies at a movie club when he was an undergraduate student. All these activities show that he possesses a strong sensibility. “The desire to know more about people prompted me to start film making and city planning. I want to create a row of houses along the street so that a real drama would be born through city planning. I would be glad that the people of the region would be able to write their own stories set in the city as a stage.”

In a cooperative project of three universities, they are researching the waterside area at Gujyo-hachiman, Gifu Prefecture, where the traditional landscape can still be seen. They're researching there because the waterways, which surround the downtown, are a center of public interest, and might be able to function as a network. “I would like to research city planning, especially the scenery. The ideal city is one in which the people can live happily.”

He seems to very keen on offering his services. His unique responses relaxed us. He really hopes to improve people's lives which his study of ways they can live comfortably. I am looking forward to the day that the designs in Takahashi’s mind become an actual stage.