Sharing the charm of the region:
Creating a facility open to both professionals and residents

A new civic hall was opened in Ibusuki City in Kagoshima Prefecture on July 31, 2022. Built as a base for arts and culture which contributes to cultural creation and the improvement of the local economy, Ibusuki Citizen Hall is comprised of a main hall as well as a foyer where visitors can relax and enjoy exhibits and a creative activity room. It has been designed to be a little more compact than the old civic hall. However, it has been built with consideration to facilitate accessibility for the elderly and disabled so it can be used easily by everyone.

The 805-capacity main hall can be used for a wide range of purposes – from professional orchestras, plays and other public performances to contests and recitals involving residents. Influencing the impression of the hall, the seats have been given original upholstery designed for Ibusuki Citizen Hall. Several designs were considered for the upholstery. A pattern based on the city’s flower, the hibiscus, and the city’s butterfly, the great orange-tip, that was not chosen has been adopted for the elevator doors in the facility. This civic hall is a place where you can feel the essence of Ibusuki throughout the facility.

We spoke with Masafumi Kamimura of the Ibusuki City Board of Education and Hiroyuki Nagayama of the Ibusuki City Hall in this interview. We asked them about their thoughts on the new civic hall and the future prospects for it.

New civic hall aiming for integration with existing facilities through the consolidation of facilities

――Please tell us the circumstance that led to the rebuilding of Ibusuki Citizen Hall.

Kamimura

The current Ibusuki City was formed with the merger of the old Ibusuki City, the old Yamagawa Town in Ibusuki County and Kaimon Town also in Ibusuki County in 2006. The civic hall in the old Ibusuki City was built in 1969. The building was deteriorating as it had been 53 years since its completion. The annual cost of repairing the facility had also become quite expensive. Therefore, there was talk of either rebuilding it or undertaking major renovations on it. It was ultimately decided to rebuild it after exploring and discussing various options.

――The new civic hall is also in a different location, isn’t it?

Kamimura

Yes. The new civic hall was designed keeping in mind the line of flow with the Nanohana-kan from the basic design stage. Nanohana-kan refers to the Fureai Plaza Nanohana-kan community center built by Kagoshima Prefecture in 1998. The south side of the facility was given to Ibusuki City. Accordingly, it was decided to build the new civic hall on the grounds of the Nanohana-kan and to utilize the facilities on an integrated basis. We are consolidating the facilities such as by combining the meeting rooms.

――You moved the facility to the new location to consolidate the facilities. What kind of hall was the civic hall in the old Ibusuki City?

Kamimura

It was a large hall with a capacity for 1,120. It was used by 40,000 to 50,000 people a year. It had a high occupancy rate. However, we decided to build the new civic hall to be a medium-sized hall with the capacity for 800 to 900 from perspectives such as the need for spacious seating and the declining population. We ultimately decided on a capacity of 805.

Nagayama

The population is aging as it is declining. Therefore, we have designed the hall to facilitate accessibility for the elderly and disabled while complying with the current Building Standards Act and related laws and ordinances. We have aimed to build a hall which all visitors can use comfortably taking into consideration ease of use such as with multipurpose restrooms and wheelchair seating.

Foyer which anyone can use anytime freely

――The new civic hall has been completed. What do you think of it?

Kamimura

 I was moved close to tears when the stage curtains and seats were installed after the construction work progressed and the interior was completed.

Nagayama

Me too. I truly felt I was going to cry when I stood at the back of the stage and looked out over the entire hall. I remembered the various adjustments we had made up to that point.

Kamimura

Speaking of the facilities, the foyer on the first floor is distinctive. We initially planned for it to be stately like a hall. However, we had it changed to give off a brighter atmosphere. That is because we wanted the foyer to be a space where residents who enjoy playing ground golf and other games on the lawn outside the building can freely enter and exit. We hope it will be a place of relaxation like a café to them where they can use the restrooms and take a break at the table seats and benches. Normally, a civic hall is not a place where you would go more than a few times a year. We would be happy if anyone can use it as a place for interaction by entering and exiting anytime freely.

Nagayama

Therefore, we open the foyer on an everyday basis. The restrooms here are clean. There are also high chairs and nursing rooms. Those are important points for those with children.

――You consider the civic hall to be a place where residents can interact. That is wonderful.

Create a comfortable main hall which can be used by both professionals and residents

――Please tell us about the points you focused on in the main hall.

Nagayama

First, is the shape of the hall. This is the first hall in Ibusuki City to have acoustic reflectors on the walls as well as the ceiling. We looked at just having reflectors on the ceiling at one point. However, we envisioned two patterns: a hall where music is played and a hall with a stage. Different reverberation times were set for each. The numbers that need satisfying differ for music which resonates and for a stage where voices are made easy to hear. Therefore, we carefully supervised the construction of the hall with the construction workers.

Kamimura

The previous civic hall never hosted private cultural events. The new civic hall has outstanding acoustics equipment. Therefore, we want those like the Kagoshima Symphony Orchestra to come here and perform. Another problem was that only certain people used the civic hall in the past. We would like to provide opportunities and spaces for those who have not used the civic hall before and those who have never been on stage in the future. This is a slightly extravagant hope. Nevertheless, the hall was designed with such ideas in mind.

――What do you think about the seats in the hall?

Kamimura

I was in a different division of the Board of Education at that time. However, at one point, two theater seats were placed in our office. One was a regular seat often seen while the other was the Spacia that we adopted this time. The staff of the Board of Education were asked to sit on these two different types of seats and to then vote on which one was best. As a result, we decided on this shape (Spacia). I remember performing the seating comparison and then casting my vote.

Nagayama

My predecessor said that the Spacia seat was “very comfortable to sit on.” This may not be so much of a concern to young people. Nevertheless, we decided to adopt the Spacia seats because you do not feel tired even if you sit in them for a long time with consideration for the elderly.

Kamimura

As you know, Ibusuki is a hot spring resort. There are also many accommodation facilities here. Therefore, sports training camps and similar are popular. We are also making an effort to attract them. The new civic hall will host recitals and festivals for the elderly such as dance performances. The visitors to those events will then stay nearby. We hope the facility will be used for cultural training camps like this. It was from this perspective as well that we decided to introduce Spacia seats.

Adopted an original design which conveys the charms of Ibusuki for the upholstery of the seats

――How did you decide on the upholstery with an earthenware motif?

Kamimura

My predecessor decided that the seat upholstery would be an original design rather than a ready-made product. We started from the idea that it would be best to use something distinctive of Ibusuki.

Nagayama

I was surprised that something like that was even possible. The concept we initially came up with was to pass on the scenery of Ibusuki. In addition, we received designs using motifs such as the city’s butterfly, the great orange-tip and the city’s flower, the hibiscus. We also had a design using the motif of earthenware. There was even talk of using Kaimondake*1.

Kamimura

You really gave us a variety of ideas. Ultimately, the division responsible for the civic hall and other cultural facilities is the History and Culture Division. Therefore, we thought a design related to history would be good.

Nagayama

We also conducted a questionnaire in the Architectural Division where I work. The opinions in that questionnaire were divided so neatly I was surprised. It was a close result. It is predictable, but Ibusuki is famous for hibiscus, so that is what we chose. Nevertheless, the History and Culture Division was in charge of making the decision, so we all guessed that they would choose something different.

Kamimura

There are curators in the History and Culture Division. They have been in museums for a long time. Therefore, it is only natural that they came to the conclusion that “we should incorporate ancient elements because the History and Culture Division is in charge.

*This is a 924-meter-high volcano located at the southern tip of Satsuma Peninsula. It is one of Japan’s one hundred famous mountains. 

――I’ve heard that Ibusuki is home to historical heritage.

Kamimura

That is right. We have the Hashimuregawa Ruins. This is a nationally designated historic site in Ibusuki. The Hashimuregawa Ruins are important ruins. They academically prove for the first time the chronological relationship between the Jomon period and the Yayoi period and onward. The relationship had not been clear before then. When you are in a place like that, you can’t help but feel a strong connection to ancient times. The Narikawa-style earthenware* incorporated into this design was excavated at that site.

Nagayama

We had that design incorporated into the upholstery of the seats this time. We decided to go with the image of “being enveloped in ancient times” when you sit down in the seats. I think we ended up with a unique design distinctive of Ibusuki.

*This is earthenware from the Kofun period distributed in the southern Kyushu region. 

――I did not know that there were such important ruins in Ibusuki. What did you think when you actually saw the seats with their original upholstery?

Kamimura

We had computer graphics produced for us when we were considering the design. That made it easy to imagine how the design would look when upholstered to the three-dimensional seats. It was very useful. The actual article was close to that impression.

Nagayama

It is hard to tell from a distance, but if you look closely, you can see threads with many different colors were used. You can really feel there is attention to detail.

――It appears that the design you did not choose for the upholstery of the seats was used for the elevator doors.

Nagayama

The result of the questionnaire in the Architectural Division was not forgotten. I don’t remember exactly, but I think I was the one who suggested that.

Kamimura

It is at the perfect spot visually to welcome guests in the foyer. It is still in the consideration stage, but there is also talk of a desire to use the design in the pamphlets for the civic hall. There is a possibility of using the design for aloha shirts or polo shirts as well. There are various possibilities for the future. I am looking forward to see them come to fruition.

As a way to promote the city to attract people to Ibusuki

――The entire civic hall has become a tool to convey the charms of Ibusuki, hasn’t it?

Kamimura

There are still people who, despite living in the area, do not know about the Hashimuregawa Ruins or Narikawa-style earthenware incorporated into the upholstery design of the seats. Of course, we will welcome educational field trips by elementary schools. We hope to take the fact these elements have been incorporated into this seat design to spread the word about them.

Nagayama

The image of Ibusuki is generally of hibiscus. However, I feel the design created for us this time is the best. Coming-of-age ceremonies will be held here in the future. Therefore, we can use such opportunities to convey this history to young people. We hope to see people in the know tell their friends and family members about this: “In fact, this pattern is….” 

――That would be wonderful. Finally, please tell us about the future prospects for the civic hall.

Kamimura

Ibusuki’s population is currently declining. Accordingly, we are trying to increase the nonresident population. We will focus our efforts on independent cultural projects at the new civic hall. We want to attract visitors to use the many accommodation facilities here and to hold wind orchestra and other training camps and contests. We would like to increase the nonresident population by attracting people from outside the city in this way. We hope that will lead to the revitalization of the city.

――We would be absolutely delighted if our seats and upholstery design play a part in promoting the city of Ibusuki. Thank you for speaking with us today.

Upholstery Design

The seat upholstery in the hall of the Ibusuki Citizen Hall was designed by our group company, FABRIKO Co., Ltd. based on a request from Ibusuki City.

After multiple meetings with Ibusuki City, we proposed several ideas based on their opinions and requests on three themes such as Ibusuki City’s flower, butterfly, Kaimondake and Narikawa-style earthenware. The adopted Narikawa-style earthenware design originated with a strong request from the History and Culture Division for an original design which uses Ibusuki City’s unique Narikawa-style earthenware pattern. 

If you actually visit the site, you will encounter Ibusuki City’s abundant hot springs, the scenic Kaimondake and coastal cliffs, and the majestic scenery where you can feel the energy of the earth. We considered how to express that atmosphere and proposed a design overlapping with the pattern of the earthenware to evoke the majestic cliffs and the strata where the earthenware lies.

The upholstery has a vermilion base with the geometric stripes based on the earthenware patterns woven with colorful and shiny threads. This means the impression given off changes depending on the angle at which they are seen and how the lighting hits them. This gives the entire audience seating a rich range of appearances. The colors used in the city emblem are woven into these shiny weft threads. This produces a design which is truly distinctive of Ibusuki City with attention to detail.

In addition, the city officials also really liked our alternative proposal. They adopted the design for the elevator doors. With the city’s flower, the hibiscus, and the city’s butterfly, the great orange-tip, serving as the motifs, the Narikawa-style earthenware also used for the seat upholstery in the hall gives the appearance of waves in the background. This expresses a tropical-like image distinctive of Ibusuki. This design is also used on the cover of the facility’s pamphlets to play a role in branding the facility.

We would be happy if the design of the seat upholstery and elevators became the impetus to help raise awareness and lead to the preservation of the local history and culture. 

The civic hall was built with the hope that many people would learn about the charms of Ibusuki. The desire to build a hall suitable for a city with a high level of culture and the original design which captures the essence of Ibusuki will help to share the charms of Ibusuki City in the future.

Related links:

[Associated Companies] Fabriko Co., Ltd.
Ibusuki Citizen Hall | Fabriko Co., Ltd. Instagram