Many people imagine Japan as either dazzlingly active, like Tokyo, or charmingly traditional, like Kyoto. But much of the country is dotted with doughnut cities where once thriving downtowns have been supplanted by suburban shopping malls, and pedestrian traffic is practically nonexistent. Keen to counter this condition in their community, the citizens of Ota, a city of 220,000 located 75 miles northwest of Tokyo, asked their mayor to intervene. The problem wasn’t just bringing people back into town—over 10,000 travelers use the central train station daily—it was getting them to stay. The mayor responded by hosting an open competition for a combined gallery and library next to this transit hub. The building proposed by Tokyo architect Akihisa Hirata (Design Vanguard 2013) turned out to be just the ticket. From afar, its hill-shaped form echoes the ancient kofun burial mound off in the distance. But, up close, its cluster of window-walled boxes teems with activity. Part cultural mecca, part information exchange, and part community center, Hirata’s building has clearly become Ota’s “it” place.