BIG has unveiled design for Toyota, world-renowned Japanese car company, to be the world's first urban incubator at the foothills of Mount Fuji in Japan. 

Named Toyota Woven City, the plans will be a new home to test all the aspects of mobility of the company's cars, alternative forms of movement, people and nature for clean and shared mobility.

The 708,200-square-metre design is conceived as "a living laboratory" to test and advance mobility, autonomy, connectivity, hydrogen-powered infrastructure and industry collaboration. 

BIG's Toyota Woven City aims to bring people and communities together in a future enabled by technology yet grounded in history and nature.

The project will be built on a 175-acre former factory site in the city of Susono in Shizuoka. In the masterplan, the team will use solar energy, geothermal energy, and hydrogen fuel cell technology to strive towards a carbon neutral society, with plans to break ground in phases beginning in 2021.

The masterplan will contain a flexible network of streets dedicated to various speeds of mobility for safer, pedestrian-friendly connections. BIG will divide the typical road into three, beginning with the primary street, optimized for faster autonomous vehicles with logistical traffic underneath. 

As BIG highlights, the Toyota e-Palette - a driverless, clean, multi-purpose vehicle - will be used for shared transportation and delivery services, as well as for mobile retail, food, medical clinics, hotels and workspaces. 

The recreational promenade will be occupied by micro-mobility types such as bicycles, scooters and other modes of personal transport, including Toyota's i-Walk. The shared street will allow residents to freely meander at a reduced speed with increasing amount of nature and space. 

The third type of street is the linear park, a path dedicated to pedestrians, flora and fauna. An intimate trail provides a safe and pleasant environment for leisurely strolls and nature breaks through the ecological corridor connecting Mount Fuji to the Susono Valley.

BIG creates three types of streets that are woven into 3x3 city blocks and each frames a courtyard accessible only via the promenade or linear park. The urban fabric of the woven grid expands and contracts to accommodate variety of scales, programs and outdoor areas. 

In one instance, a courtyard balloons to the scale of a large plaza, and in other, to become a central park providing a city-wide amenity. Hidden from view in an underground network lies the infrastructure of the city, including hydrogen power, stormwater filtration and a goods delivery network dubbed the "matternet".

All the buildings in the masterplan will be built from mass timber. BIG will combine the legacy of Japanese craftsmanship and the tatami module with robotic fabrication technology, Japan's construction heritage lives on, while building sustainably and efficiently into the future. 

A mix of housing, retail and business - to be built primarily of carbon-sequestering wood with photovoltaic panels installed on the roofs - characterize each city block, ensuring vibrant and active neighborhoods at all times of the day.

Toyota's R&D spaces house robotic construction, 3D printing and mobility labs, while typical offices flexibly accommodate workstations, lounges and indoor gardens. 

Residences in the Woven City will test new technology such as in-home robotics to assist with daily living. These smart homes take advantage of full connectivity using sensor-based AI technology to perform functions such as automatic grocery deliveries, laundry pick-ups or trash disposal, all while enjoying spectacular views of Mt. Fuji.

Project facts

Program: Urbanism

Status: In Progress

Size in: 708,200m2

Project type: Commission

Client: Toyota Motor Corporation + Kaleidoscope Creative

Collaborators: Squint Opera (Animation), Mobility in Chain (Transportation Consultants), Atelier Ten (Sustainability)

Location Text: Susono, Shizuoka, Japan

All images courtesy of BIG

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