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Bringing a bit of Cape Cod to Japan

By Jon Springer

YOKOHAMA, Japan -- A shopping center resembling a New England fishing village is now under construction -- right here in this Japanese port city.

Sounds like the stuff of fairy tales? You bet. The village is designed around a story written by one of its architects.

The Yokohama Bayside Marina, a retail-entertainment complex that might be mistaken for a village on the coast of Massachusetts, was designed using an imaginative approach that puts "theme" first, said architects at RTKL Associates Inc., the Baltimore firm that designed the project for its Tokyo-based developer, Mitsui Fudosan Co. Ltd.

RTKL's entertainment and thematic imaging studio, ID8, accomplished this by creating a fairy tale about a whale that carries a boy lost at sea from Nantucket, Mass., to Yokohama. The story -- "Free Willy" meets "The Witches of Eastwick," if you will -- sets the stage for the design and theming of the 215,000-square-foot center, said Thom McKay, vice president of ID8.

Theme is becoming more important than ever for project designers, who are responding to developers' desire to have entertainment built in, rather than added to, their projects.

"It's becoming more and more common. There's a big movement toward creating environments with a resonance or connection," said Mr. McKay. "You have to create a sense of place, and to do that, you need some type of narrative framework. There has to be something more compelling and deeper than the average project."

ID8 employs not only architects, but writers, interior and exterior designers, marketing experts and graphic designers to create a framework for the project, he explained. This meeting of creative minds helps produce a project rich in detail and driven by theme. Theme park projects of The Walt Disney Co. are created in a similar manner, Mr. McKay added, and success there has helped gain momentum in retail projects.

"We perceived in the retail market that the product was changing, and to drive that change we realized we had to change our product," said Mr. McKay. "It's one of the reasons we created this division called ID8. While we required the traditional architectural services, we also required a whole other set of skills to do these projects."

So why was a New England village chosen for the theme of this project? Quite simply, developers liked the look, and the nautical theme fit in well with the project's seaside location, architects said. Other new projects in Japan, notably Tokyo's Disney theme park, are increasingly influenced by Western design, Mr. McKay said.

Creating the project began with a story written by Phil Engelke, RTKL's vice president in charge of the project. In the story, a boy named Nathaniel leaves Nantucket on a fishing trip with his family. Their boat is lost in stormy seas until a whale, whom Nathaniel had spared from harpoons earlier in the journey, leads them to safety in a "new" village on the coast of the Pacific. Once there, the fishermen create a village called Sawtucket, in the image of their home.

Much like moviemakers, ID8 staff created storyboards to accompany the narrative, and the project grew in detail from there, said Mark Herbkersman, senior project designer for RTKL. Components of the story incorporated into the retail complex include a lighthouse, a town square, a captain's mansion, a windmill and twin "fishmarkets" that will serve as anchor buildings for the shopping center. The center is arranged in a horseshoe configuration in front of a 1,000-slip marina. Details such as scrimshaw window shutters authenticate the theme.

"The Japanese are incredible craftsmen and their attention to detail is acute," said Mr. Herbkersman.

Though knowing the "story of Sawtucket" -- which is posted in the center -- will help visitors understand the reasons behind the design, visitors needn't read the story in order to enjoy the experience, Mr. Herbkersman explained.

"You have to create a narrative that isn't as linear as, say, a novel. You can enter it at any point or any chapter," he said. "If you understand the story, it just takes your experience to a higher level."

Though architects admit the story is somewhat "tongue-in-cheek," they insist it is not hokey. Ultimately, it serves as the key to creating a convincing and engaging theme.

"Even though we're getting wacky and coming up with all new ideas, at the end of the day you have to deliver a project on time and on budget. And the project has to work -- the tenants have to make money," Mr. McKay said. "If the products don't work from a very strong commercial standpoint, we're all out of work."

Several restaurants in the project have already opened, and the retail phase will open 100% leased this fall. Developers plan a mix of tenants to attract "families on a budget," according to Mr. Herbkersman. The project will also serve tourists and pleasure boaters on the marina with sports and outdoor shops and fishing shops.

The project is part of a larger effort to further develop Yokohama as an entertainment and recreation destination. Yokohama has long been Japan's largest port city, and the Bayside district, approximately 6 miles from downtown, has prospered as a resort destination since the 12th century. Yokohama Hakkeijima, an amusement park featuring Japan's largest aquarium, opened in 1993. In 1996, new boating docks and a visitor's center opened, according to the Yokohama Business News.

A city of 3.3 million located just north of Tokyo, Yokohama has also begun to attract more white-collar and government jobs from its neighboring city. Judging by its newest retail complex, fresh ideas about retail developments are heading there too.

"By and large, our clients understand what we're doing, both the developers and retail tenants," said Mr. McKay. "They know there's been a shift away from suburban shopping malls into something else. It's more about entertainment these days than traditional shopping centers.

"Our biggest challenge has been internal," he added. "We've had to change what we think about entertainment, designs and creating a commercial development."