架构师提供的文本描述。冲绳曾被称为琉球王国，拥有丰富的森林和海洋资源。

Text description provided by the architects. Okinawa, once called the Ryukyu Kingdom, has been blessed with rich forest and ocean resources.

 © Koichi Torimura

c.Torimura幸一

冲绳人组织了一个独特的社会制度，逐渐采用他们的邻居的文化和最新技术，同时仔细地使他们适应和融入他们的特殊环境。他们根据自然环境培养了独特的生活方式，从而能够与自然建立一种可持续的关系。(鼓掌)

The Okinawan people organised a unique social system by gradually adopting the culture and latest technologies of their neighbors while carefully adapting and integrating them to their particular environment. They cultivated particular lifestyles based on their natural surroundings, and thus were able to create a sustainable relationship with nature.  

 © Koichi Torimura

c.Torimura幸一

然而，由于管理机构的不断变化和工业革命以来新技术的迅速流入，他们失去了这种人与自然之间微妙的平衡。这个建筑也不例外。新引进的传统建筑方法取代了乡土建筑，大大强调了方便和安全。这导致了冲绳文化特性的丧失，同时也破坏了当地的风景。可以观察到经济影响的程度-财富集中在少数几个国家，因此，贫富之间的建筑差距在整个区域的城镇中变得尤为明显。现在，我比以往任何时候都更多地看到一个典型的咖啡带建筑环境，即宏伟的度假村与当地社区贫困条件之间的淫秽对比。

However, due to the constant change of governing bodies, and rapid inflow of new technologies since the Industrial Revolution, they lost touch with this delicate balance between people and nature. The architecture was no exception. The vernacular buildings were replaced by newly-imported conventional construction methods that placed a huge emphasis on convenience and safety. This led to the loss of the Okinawan cultural identity in addition to damaging the local scenery. The extent of the economic impact can be observed the concentration of wealth among the few, and consequently the architectural gap between the rich and the poor has become strikingly pronounced throughout the region’s towns and cities. Now more than ever, I see an architectural environment typical of the coffee belt, that is, the obscene contrast between the magnificent resorts and the impoverished conditions of local neighborhoods. 

 © Koichi Torimura

c.Torimura幸一

 Floor Plan

 © Koichi Torimura

c.Torimura幸一

话虽如此，重要的是要认识到这一系列事件并不是资本主义经济破坏传统的结果，而是现代技术随意适应的结果，而不允许它经历本土化的过程。

Having said that, it is important to recognize this chain of events not as the capitalist economy destroying tradition, but rather as the result of the haphazard adaptation of modern technology without allowing it to undergo the process of indigenization.

 Structure System

随着信息时代的成熟，我们面临着一个新的挑战-纠正这一趋势。但更重要的是，这是一个机会。通过连接新技术和激发当地社区的智慧，我的目标是培育一种新的建筑形式，即本土化的、本土的、与自然共生的建筑。通过这样做，我相信冲绳可以再一次建立一个富有特色的建筑环境。

Now that the Information Age is in the process of maturity, we are facing a new challenge to course-correct this trend. But more importantly, it is an opportunity. By connecting new technologies and galvanizing the intelligence of local communities, I aim to nurture a new form of architecture that is indigenized, vernacular, and symbiotic with nature. By doing so, I believe Okinawa can build a rich, distinctive architectural environment once again.

 © Koichi Torimura

c.Torimura幸一

正是基于这个愿望，我建造了新明卡。我尽量不太怀旧过去，推理归纳，透过现代建筑的镜头。虽然在许多情况下，最终的结果可能与传统的日本建筑是一致的，但设计上确实取得了一些进展。

It is with this wish that I built Shinminka. I tried not to be too nostalgic about the past, reasoned inductively, and looked through the lens of modern architecture. While it might be true that in many cases, the end result ended up in line with traditional Japanese architecture, some design progress has certainly been made. 

当我们审视日本建筑中的两个经典冲突时，这一进步就变得明显了。首先是结构抗自然灾害的侧向强度-尤其是冲绳的台风-与通风以防止湿度和提供开放性之间的冲突。结构越坚固，通风就越少，因此室内湿度越大，也会阻碍空气的开放。二是风荷载与屋檐大小的矛盾。屋檐越大，风荷载就越大。屋檐越小，遮挡室内的阳光就越少。(注：夏季冲绳阳光很强。)有必要通过设计为这两个问题创造解决办法。

This progress becomes evident when we examine two classical conflicts in Japanese architecture. First is the conflict between lateral strength of the structure against natural disasters—particularly typhoons in case of Okinawa—and ventilation to prevent humidity and to provide openness. The stronger the structure, the less ventilation there will be; hence the more humidity will remain inside, and it will also prevent openness. Second is the conflict between wind load and the size of the eaves. The larger the eaves, the more wind load there will be. The smaller the eaves, the less sunshine they can shield the interior from. (N.B. sunshine is quite strong in Okinawa in summer.) It was necessary to create solutions for both of these issues through design.

 © Koichi Torimura

c.Torimura幸一

通常，为了确保侧方强度，支撑放置平行于墙壁。但是，通过这样的设计，通风和开放将受到限制。因此，我的想法是把支撑径向外，连接到建筑物的外柱。同时，屋面(屋檐)延伸到这些外柱，以确保适当的大小和控制风荷载。因此，12根支撑柱和外柱的设计提供了足够的横向强度和抗风荷载，即使在台风面前也是如此。

Usually to ensure lateral strength, braces are placed parallel to the walls. But by designing this way, ventilation and openness will be limited. Hence, my idea was to place braces radially toward the outside, connecting to outer columns of the building. At the same time, the roofs (the eaves) are extended to those outer columns to secure the right size and to control wind load. Thus the design of the 12 braces and outer columns provides sufficient lateral strength and works against wind load, even in the face of typhoons.

 © Koichi Torimura

c.Torimura幸一

通过这种方式，我把建筑从墙壁的必要性中解放出来；在我的设计中，第一次能够在建筑物的四面使用玻璃窗。玻璃窗提供了足够的通风和开放的外部环境。从外部自然到建筑的无缝过渡已经实现。

In this way I freed the structure from the necessity of walls; for the first time in my design it is possible to employ glass windows on all four sides of the building. The glass windows provide more than enough ventilation and openness to the outside environment. Seamless transition from outside nature to architecture had been realised. 

 © Koichi Torimura

c.Torimura幸一

这个项目已经完成，但我相信还有进一步发展的空间和其他可能性。我希望新明卡能成为日本本土建筑的一个很好的案例研究，并能很好地指导我们的建筑在未来的发展方向。

This project has been completed, but I do believe there is space for further development and other possibilities. I hope Shinminka will serve as a good case study for the local architecture of Japan, and will act as a good guide to the general direction our architecture should go towards in the future.   

 © Koichi Torimura

c.Torimura幸一