An international team of architects comprising Kornberg Associates from the US, Nikken Sekkei, Japan’s largest design firm, and Kuniken from Okinawa was selected to plan and design the campus. The overall masterplan places the residential campus village and carparking on the lower part of the site adjacent to a small existing lake, with laboratories and central facilities higher up the site. The two areas are connected by a curving pedestrian tunnel and elevators rising through a vertical light shaft.
The main campus comprises the Lab Zone, which includes the Center Building, and the planned Village Zone.
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The Lab Zone is entered through the OIST Gallery tunnel.
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To enter the Center Building, you walk through a passage that crosses the pond and then through the OIST Gallery tunnel.
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At the end of the OIST Gallery tunnel is an elevator that rises up through a vertical light shaft.
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Campus Location
Onna-son, Okinawa Prefecture
Total Area
222.1 hectares (1 hectare = 10,000 m2); Hillside area: approx. 213.4ha; Coastal area: approx. 8.7ha; Planned Development Areas: main campus (hillside area) approx. 80ha, seaside campus (coastal area) approx. 8.7ha
