Case Study: Norihiko Dan and Associates achieves award‑winning, earth‑integrated architecture and faster 3D workflows with VectorWorks

Norihiko Dan and Associates - Customer Case Study

Norihiko Dan and Associates, a Tokyo-based architecture and urban design firm led by environmentalist Norihiko Dan, was tasked with creating the Nishikyogoku Swimming Pool Complex on a tight 3.6-hectare site that needed roughly 30,000 m² of floor area and dual summer/winter functionality (pool and ice rink). The program required a large underground mechanical room that would have meant removing about 90,000 m³ of soil—an impractical, disruptive solution in a dense residential area—and demanded a design that harmonized building and landscape.

Dan applied his “universal form” or “curry” concept: reuse on-site earth to blend half architecture, half landform, embedding much of the structure into a green hill with a green roof and a kidney-shaped volume over the pool/ice rink. Using Vectorworks’ 3D/NURBS tools to model complex freeform geometry, the team avoided massive off-site excavation, improved thermal performance and site integration, secured city approval with compelling renderings, completed the project in 2002, and earned the IOC/IAKS Silver Award in 2005.

Norihiko Dan and Associates

Norihiko Dan

Norihiko Dan and Associates