Airhouse

This boulangerie is located in a renovated building in the Meito district of Nagoya. Its name, Tôt le Matin, means “early in the morning” in French. The “M” from “Matin” inspired the motif for the lattice on the façade, but its shape also evokes ears of wheat, mountain ridges at dawn, and the slashes cut into French bread before baking. This slanted lattice thus serves as a symbol of the shop, expressing the desire to connect people with the business. The client requested a space that was simple and chic but also evoked the spirituality of Japanese shrines and temples. We therefore aligned the entrance to the kitchen so that it symmetrically faces the sales counter, symbolically deifying and drawing attention to the kitchen to produce a kind of tension similar to what one feels when facing the gods at a shrine. However, in order to simplify construction work and minimize the number of elements that had to be fabricated, we limited new items to the wall separating the kitchen and sales area, the table for displaying bread, and the exterior wall and front door. The other walls were simply stripped of their existing finishes to expose the concrete, while part of the existing ceiling was removed in the sales area, leaving the underlying lightweight steel framework in place to create a sense of height. Pendant lights and plants counteract the cool mood of the interior; when bread—which plays a central role in the design—is added, the space comes into balance. By designing a unique shop that nevertheless did not require unnecessarily complex construction work, we hope to have created a place where beginnings unfold, and where the owner will be able to achieve his goal of offering up delicious bread at the start of every day.

This wood-frame single-family home for a couple and their three daughters is located in the Nakagawa district of Nagoya, Aichi Prefecture. One of the clients’ main requests was that they be able to adjust the divisions between rooms as their family changed over time. To meet this request, we came up with a design that consists of two open spaces layered on top of each other. Each of these large rooms has a grid of beams but no posts, so that flooring can be laid or removed and room partitions added or taken down as desired, allowing the family to easily change the layout in the future. (Even the current walls that reach the ceiling are built like partitions, without posts.) When the family first moved in, their daughters were young, so solid walls were not necessary; they instead divided spaces using curtains fixed to rails embedded in the beams (the beam design allows the rails to be moved to other locations in the future). As a result, soft light filled the entire structure, and the open, one-room spaces allowed family members to sense one another’s presence wherever they were. This, however, is only the first stage in the life of the house. We look forward to seeing how it evolves together with the family in the future.

This project converted an old combined shop and residence in Nagoya’s Mizuho district into a shared office and coworking space. Although the compact four-story structure originally had a building footprint of just 26.4 square meters, we decided to further reduce the interior space by removing the original windows and constructing a new inner layer of exterior walls, thereby creating semi-enclosed terraces on each floor between the old façade and the new walls. All of the new outdoor areas contain potted plants, giving each office a lush green space under the eaves. Even these small buffers between exterior and interior are enough to create a sense of distance from the city outside, making for comfortable, high-quality work spaces. The terrace plantings are equipped with automatic sprinkler systems so they can be easily maintained even when a particular office is not occupied. In order to allow occupants to either use the interior rooms as-is or fix them up as desired, we intentionally limited our changes to a coat of paint over the stripped-down spaces when remodeling. We hope that the project will both enrich the working environment of those who use the building and serve as catalyst for neighborhood revitalization.

This free-standing commercial building in Ichinomiya, Aichi Prefecture, houses a beauty salon and restaurant run by a pair of siblings. The combination of businesses provided a challenge because of smells. Rather than isolated the two spaces from each other, however, we randomly arranged a number of cubes with different moods under a large, thin roof, and further partitioned the interior with latticework. This layout creates an open feeling and enables people in both businesses to be aware of each other’s presence. In addition, the various lattices have different meanings and lend different moods to each space. Specifically, the latticework in the beauty salon creates an open, greenhouse-like space surrounded by plants and natural light, bringing greenery and sunshine into the salon. In the restaurant, the lattice lends the space a Japanese feeling and fulfills the role of screen or zoning mechanism. In this way a shared design feature serves different purposes, enriching each space and creating a synergistic effect between the two businesses.

This reinforced concrete residence is located in the town of Morimachi, Shizuoka Prefecture. While it is a new building with an earthquake-resistant structure, the design features rustic textures. A semi-exterior roofed terrace brings pleasant natural light and air into the open-plan living-dining-kitchen area, which has a double-height ceiling and is surrounded on both floors by bedrooms and other private spaces. This design serves to link all the rooms to the natural environment outside as well as to ensure family members can sense one another’s presence while still maintaining an appropriate distance. The reclaimed wood used to finish insulated portions of the interior brings warmth to the otherwise inorganic textures of concrete and steel, while the light fixtures, furniture, plants, and exterior finishes selected by the client complete an atmosphere that blends industrial and natural elements. Despite being newly built from the ground up, the residence has the feeling of a renovation, reflecting our belief as architects that there is value in creating new structures that nevertheless have a degree of roughness to them.

This single-family home in Ogaki, Gifu Prefecture is located near two railway lines. For that reason, the design seeks to maintain an open, spacious atmosphere while also blocking out noise Reducing noise in the open-plan living-dining-kitchen area was most important, so that area is encircled by the bathrooms, storage areas, and bedrooms. The bedrooms alternate with inner terraces that function as marginal spaces in relation to the bedrooms and main living area, expanding the possible uses of these rooms and bringing light and a feeling of openness into the main living area through their glass doors, which can be opened and closed. Furthermore, the two layers of walls surrounding the living-dining-kitchen area improve insulation and help maintain a comfortable thermal environment while also blocking noise. By focusing on the concept of enclosure, we were able to solve the noise problem while also enabling family members to sense one another’s presence from the central living area. The result is a multifaceted space that is both open and comfortable.

This residence is located in the city of Iwakura, Aichi prefecture. The site is surrounded by buildings on three sides and faces a park across the road on the north side. The clients had two main requests. The first was that the spaces have an expansive feeling while at the same time not be too open to the surrounding environment. The second was that the layout provide a diversity of individual living spaces but still allow family members to sense one another’s presence. In response to these requests, we designed a structure with columnar two-story volumes in each of its four corners to serve as private living areas. The spaces between these volumes make up the shared living/dining/kitchen zone, which features a double-height ceiling with a large skylight at its peak. The high ceiling gives the space an expansive feeling, while the natural light pouring in from above provides both brightness and a sense of light shifting over time. Because all of the private rooms adjoin the open central space, all benefit from the skylight’s brightness. This layout is also intended to enable easy communication between family members on different sides of the central space. The rooms on the second floor are connected via bridges. This ensures smooth circulation, gives a loft-like feeling to some parts of the house, creates new spaces, and opens up communication between the first and second floors. As a whole the design provides a diversity of spaces without sacrificing ease of use, and creates a comfortable living environment where family members are able to sense both one another’s presence and the natural world outside.

This house is located on a narrow and long lot facing frontal roads on three sides. The client requested a home-cum-office with an open living-dining-kitchen space with high ceiling, which would be used as his own web design office; and he wanted to keep an appropriate distance between the work zone and the daily living zone where his wife does housework. Because the lot was narrow in the east-west direction, it was difficult to have a sufficient building width. Therefore, the floor plan was positioned obliquely to secure the necessary areas. The building corners were rounded to alleviate the building’s oppressive impression standing on the corner site; and an exterior space where lush greenery would be planted was provided by securing enough open space on the site. In this way, we intended to create an appropriate distance between the building and the roads and give it a gentle impression, while the lush greenery in the open area would provide natural scenery like a forest in the surrounding environment. As a result, we successfully realized architecture in the middle between house and office, and created an interior space with a natural feeling and an embracing atmosphere generated by the form based on curved lines. We think that this project is providing richness to both the family and the surrounding environment.

This is the renovation project of a residence with a healing salon located in Tajimi-city, Gifu-prefecture. The client asked two major requests; one is to provide three treatment rooms for "chiropractic", "reflexology", and "counseling" purposes by making use of the existing house for living and work; another is to have a space for gathering under a large top light. For creating the situation where "the sky is visible", an open ceiling void hall is added right next to the existing building. By doing so, a space with the vertical connection to the existing 2-story building is realized, enabling transformation of the existing rooms into the operation rooms. This void hall becomes not only the waiting space for the visitors, but also the circulation space and the possible event space. The approach toward the operation rooms under the sky view would raise the expectations of the visitors, while they can feel relaxed under the top light after the treatment. A tree is planted in this hall space to symbolize this salon, considering any forest grows from a single tree--the name of the salon, "FOREST”, and this single tree and other young trees planted around the extension part will grow into a "forest” someday. A small addition of the extension to the existing building provided a relaxing and fulfilling salon space enveloping the sky and the greenery.

This is the design project for exhibiting at the "Shapes of Japanese Style-Exhibition” in "Milano Salone 2015". It is a collaboration work with a gardener and a chef, the "Jardin Chef" Mr. Tadashi Miyagawa. We shared the point of view that producing a garden space and cooking dishes would be similar; therefore we expressed the "garden" and the "dish" conditions all together by using the common materials, within the framework of the Japanese traditional table setting in "a bowl of soup and one dish" form. The "garden" is expressed as the table setting in a Japanese stone garden style, while the stones transform into the "dishes" as a rice bowl and a soup bowl when turned over. There is a great deal of freedom and variety for placing stones and plants in a garden space, just like the arrangement of a cooked food on a dish; we thought there might be some essential joy of a meal in the "duality" of the stones and plants in the table setting also used as a container and cutlery. This design project gives the opportunity to reconsider such freedom and the relationship between garden creation and the culinary art—the coexistence of the "garden" and the "dish" would raise the quality of each other for more profound outcome.

This renovation project is located in Nekogahora Dori, Chikusa-ku in Nagoya City, Aichi Prefecture. Two existing “machiya” (traditional Japanese wooden tradesmen’s houses) that were adjacently built 40 years ago are connected and converted into a single structure containing a residence and a shop. In response to the client’s request to design a large dining / kitchen space to host social gatherings, we have designed the entire entrance area as the dining / kitchen space. Space for living is located on the second floor to secure privacy while the lower and upper floors are not fully separated but connected by a void space to achieve a spacious loft-like open space. The existing floor-to-ceiling partition walls are basically removed to let in light from both the east and west sides to achieve a bright living space in a Japanese-style house which is supposed to have relatively dark rooms in typical configurations. By stripping the structure to reveal the skeleton, we intend to maximize the spatial efficiency and also added structural reinforcement based on the necessary calculations. Today the number of old buildings in need for renovation is rapidly increasing, and we intend to propose an effective solution to achieve rich space by utilizing, reducing and reinforcing existing structures. (for the shop design, please see description of “machimachi”.)

This building, clad in white galvanized metal, used to be a dry cleaner’s shop. “machimachi”, which constitutes a part of the renovated structure, is a select shop dealing with ladies’ fashion, located in 5-minute walking distance from Motoyama Station on the Nagoya Municipal Subway Higashiyama Line. The existing structure, which had been supported by small structural members, was structurally deflected and deformed over a long period of time. We stripped down the structure to expose the skeleton and added beams and metal parts for reinforcement. The customized metal parts are made of special steel and the new structural wood members are color-coordinated while maintaining the original atmosphere and texture and incorporating bold elements. We intend to achieve materiality that expresses the warm human touch and the extensive history of the house. Such materiality generates a sense of security and belongingness to the community, and we hope that the shop will activate and renew the townscape while maintaining consideration for the community. (for the residence, please see description of “Renovation in Nekogahora”.)

A piece of land in a Japanese persimmon (kaki) orchard was offered as the project area for a residential house. As the client wanted wide open spaces with high ceilings, a structure composed of a large roof set on top of seven thick columns was used. To secure copious glass windows, private areas are located inside the columns while intervals between columns are designated as living, dining and kitchen spaces. With this composition, only the sky and the kaki orchard are visible from the inside, giving the area an open feeling while the kaki trees provide a sense of privacy from the outside world, all of which makes for a relaxed atmosphere in the interior areas. As the landscape transforms with the changing of the kaki seasons, a generous living space is produced in the house nestled among the kaki trees.

This project was a renovation of a 40-year-old reinforced concrete apartment. The spaces of the house were designed from a viewpoint of “storing clothes”. It was said that the client had a passion for fashion and loved trying on clothes or displaying newly bought clothes. The client requested a large-sized closet space. However, we thought it was a shame to completely hide away the precious clothes. Therefore, a large closet space, called a dress room, was made in the center of the plan. The room functions as a passage as well as a display storage and a hide-away storage, and the space continuously changes depending on the situation or season. By doing so, fashion blends into life, and I believe that the space became a place to change the client’s mood whenever it was passed by. This renovation project was done by constructing spaces through re-examination of the conventional ideas of clothing storage.

The kitchen and selling space are considered to have equal weight, and a large table-like platform is created between them. This table can be used for a variety of purposes such as a display space, a checkout counter, or a working space to cut bread and knead dough. Structural plywood was used for the top of the table, and translucent polycarbonate corrugated sheets are placed on the sides of the platform. By designing the sides as translucent, it is intended to emphasize the presence of the table while blurring boundaries. For this shop with a small-sized staff, this design enables the owner to always have knowledge of the shop situation and allows different actions depending on the amount of bread produced. As a result, this table creates an open atmosphere, fosters communication between the customers and bakers, dynamically displays the process from the time the bread is baked to the moment it is sold, and creates a rich retail space that is fun for working as well as shopping.

One of our client’s major requirements was for a living space where the presence of the family would always be felt. In response, we devised a single-roomed layout without columns that took advantage of the distinctive features of the existing warehouse. A large kitchen was installed to cater to the needs of the food-loving husband-and-wife couple. We then conceived the entire living space by taking the kitchen as a focal point, with a mix of various other activities and functions unfolding around it. Within this single-roomed space, we also created a box-like structure with a loft bedroom for the children on top of it, and private quarters including a bedroom and bathroom inside it. In order to minimize heat loss within this massive space, a 100mm layer of urethane foam was added to the walls, floors and ceiling, while a combined heat and power device was installed in the living room to heat water and provide floor heating. All openings were designed by making use of existing sash windows and doors, while glass panes were all given a double-glazing treatment to improve insulation. The façade of the building was left intact in an effort to blend in with the surrounding neighborhood, as well as due to cost considerations. The result was a comfortable, luxurious home that made effective use of existing features while also avoiding excessive expense.

The modification plan of the interior design of a children's-clothes store. Stark interior design which conflicts simultaneously with "kids-likeness" was requested from the client. Even if space was starks, as an element made into the cause that innocence can be recognized, shape proposed the display by star type fixtures. Usually, if dotty fixtures gather, it will become a star type, and it makes it possible to make various scenes according to a season or an event. It is similar about the appearance. It gives a simple impression. And I express childishness by using the surface feel of a material such as a white plastic toy. By considering how to connect display fixtures and how to divide, it became the plan it became possible to produce rich shopping space.