Canal City Hakata (CCH) embraced water as a signature element for the project for its natural power to draw together communities and its allusion to the adjacent Naka River. The project’s open-air notion broke with the ubiquitous hermetically-sealed shopping mall and opened the interior to nature’s elements. CCH forms a critical link between Fukuoka’s primary retail district, Tenjin, and its commercial core at Hakata Station strengthening the city’s overall fabric through sheer critical mass and its consequent effects.

Canal City Hakata’s large program, with the assistance of metaphors borrowed from nature, was mapped into a series of smaller districts dubbed Sea Court, Earth Walk, Sun Plaza, Moon Walk, Star Court, etc. This integrated segmentation of the project was reinforced through a strategy of zoned leasing that grouped tenants according to kinds of merchandise and services; a strategy that ultimately led to the success of its tenants.

The whole was brought to life with an aggressive array of materials, patterns, and colors (known as the “family of zebras”). Co-created with a team of specialty consultants CCH possesses a rich and vibrant language and forms a theatrical stage for the life of Hakata.

Project directed by Brian Honda while at the Jerde Partnership, Inc.