Taking note of the site's open atmosphere, the design features a transparent street facade with a vertically extended communal space that continues the sense of expansiveness to the interior. Situated on the corner of an intersection in a neighbourhood populated with long-term residents, the design aims to maintain a friendly level of communication with the street.
In addition, the site is characterized by an unchanged zoning regulation which enabled the architects to build slightly higher than the adjacent structure to the south. Taking advantage of this ability, the house stands much taller than a conventional two-storey building, placing its second level above an exceptionally open communal ground floor. (to find out more..)
Japanese architecture practice ON design partners has sent us images of 'Yokohama Apartment', a two-storey residential complex for young artists in Kanagawa, Japan. Located in an area populated with wooden houses and narrow roads, the design elevates the living units to sit above a semi public courtyard which serves as a multifunctional place for exhibitions, work, and socializing.
Conceived as the main communal space, the courtyard is loosely defined by four, triangular volumes that pinwheel around the center. An outdoor kitchen complete with a sink and stove allows the inhabitants to congregate in this area for a variety of functions. A washroom and storage closets are accommodated at the ground level of the four pillars, ensuring efficient organization of the second storey. Access to
the elevated living space above is gained by a series of exterior staircases that wrap around the courtyard. The landings serve as small outdoor terraces that provide visual connection to both the street and communal area below.(to find out more)
The graphic and exhibition design for the first major Japanese retrospective of internationally-known milliner Hirata Akio’s seventy years of work. For the exhibition space, we wanted to make Hirata’s hats stand out.
The mass-produced non-woven fabric hats we created for the space are the antithesis of Hirata’s carefully handmade hats, and bring them into sharp relief through dramatic contrast.
Hirata oversaw the shape of these hats, which float and stream through the exhibition like ghosts or shells of the real hats exhibited. Some are exhibition stands; others become walls, ceilings and diffusers to scatter light through the space. Flooded with roughly 4000 of these ‘ghost hats’ as though shrouded in a cloud, the exhibition space softly invites visitors inside. There, they find not clear-cut paths to follow but an environment in which they can wander and discover Hirata’s creations as they like, as a way of physically experiencing the creative freedom that underlies Hirata’s work.(to find out more..)(& here)
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