NEXT21- an experiment

With the aim of creating a green, social, energy-efficient and adaptive urban living environment fit for the challenges of the 21st century and its demands, Osaka Gas commissioned the experimental residential complex `NEXT21` in Osaka in 1989, built in 1993. 15 years into its existence and three consecutive five-year cycles of ongoing inhabitation experimentation, the 30 minute documentary `NEXT21 - an experiment` looks back on the context and conditions of that visionary and pioneering multi-disciplinary design process. Due to the mounting collective concern for the threat of climate change, ecology and sustainable building have once again regained public attention since the oil crisis of the late 70’s. The challenge for designers today is to use this momentum and to transform it into a widely supported and effective sustainable development of the built environment. The precondition is to not only to start working on it with enthusiasm, but also to look back to extract valuable lessons from the richness of our recent past; results of realized pioneering projects and still ongoing experiments. The NEXT21 project in Osaka is one of the rare Open Bulding projects that did manage to capture the imagination and still up to today remains a fascinating building. Its complex design process was determined by the succesful cooperation of a group of professionals from different disciplines. An interesting question we asked was: what does this project have that the others don’t? What is it’s X-factor? Can understanding the mechanisms at work help us create better buildings and so widen the support for sustainability? To gain insight in the X-factor and it’s creation is what motivated the making of this documentary and it is our opinion crucial for the successful proliferation of ecological and sustainable building.