Category — Architecture

click images to enlarge

Despite the odd name that conjures up all sorts of equally odd images, the renovated 6th floor rooms of Hotel NUTS (which stands for New Urban Time and Space) offer visitors to Tokyo a unique space that gracefully blends preexisting elements with traditional Japanese design.

Upsetters Architects were responsible for the interior design. And perhaps they appreciated graphic designer Shun Kawakami and calligraphy artist Gen Miyakawa’s collaboration as much as I did because they enlisted the two to create similar designs on the ceilings of the hallways. The calligraphy, combined with the calculated lighting, creates an anachronistic atmosphere that heightens expectations leading up to the rooms.

Here are some shots of the actual rooms. They intentionally exposed the bare walls of the building – leaving, at times, markings made during construction – to create a balance between structural information and elements of Japanese design, such as light and texture. Nice!

Related:

• balloon as vase by shun kawakami

Keisuke Maeda and his Hiroshima-based architectural office UID recently uploaded images of their latest work “Atelier-bisque doll.” Completed in late 2009, the project aims to rethink the notion of privacy.

Instead of the conventional outward-looking means of securing privacy, in which walls or fences are used like a border-town sheriff, the same prerequisites are applied to an inward-looking approach in which even the surrounding gardens are categorized as exterior space. The result is an environment that, at its core, emphasizes human interaction by removing the limitations that interior/exterior zones place on our lifestyle.

Related:

• Radest dentist office EVER

click images to enlarge

Planet Creations, an architecture firm fronted by Masato Sekiya, earlier this week uploaded photos of their most recent project, Asukadai House. The unit is located in a quiet neighborhood of Northern Nara and serves as the primary residence for a family of three. The house is constructed primarily around its environment, with sweeping openings and expansive porches all designed to encourage light and scenery to enter.

Masahiro Minami takes us on another photo tour of a senior thesis exhibition, this time at Kyoto University of Art and Design. I am constantly amazed, inspired and then puzzled by the level of craftsmanship and creativity I see at these shows. Puzzled as in, where does all this talent disappear to after graduation? Does everyone join a Japanese firm where their innovation is suppressed and then extinguished? Anyway, let us move along to some of my top picks.

This bookshelf is like something right out of Alice in Wonderland.
(click images to enlarge)

Imagine a grey world of washi paper and felt

If home appliances were inhabited by a community of tiny, industrious, architecturally advanced peoples. (I love this series)

What an awesome idea for a housing complex.

Related:

• Kobe Design University thesis exhibition

click images to enlarge

Japanese architectural firm Ninkipen recently completed Cucchiaio, a new Italian restaurant in Osaka. The name means Spoon in Italian, so we have something in common.

The interior and exterior combine wood, metal and white to create a sophisticated atmosphere that seems to be consistent with their high-end Italian dishes. If the interior shots don’t move you, perhaps a look at their food will make you want to go?

I have a column in Snow Magazine covering Bunzo Ogawa’s Absolute Arrows, a public restroom project in Hiroshima. Read it here!

click images to enlarge

Here is another recent project by Atelier BNK. They just put the finishing touches on this impressive elementary school last month, just in time for the new school year, which starts in Spring. I love the use of materials in this school, notably the wooden railings. That stairway is also beautiful. I’m happy to see such a gorgeous facility be built but it’s also surprising. Last year Hokkaido closed 7 schools because of their low birth rate and dwindling population. They even put 4 of the schools up on an eBay-like auction! I guess it depends on what part of Hokkaido you are in.

Photos by Koji Sakai

click images to enlarge

Atelier BNK, a Hokkaido-based architectural firm celebrating its 40th year of business, recently completed Jorg House, a residential unit located in the northern snow country. The L-shaped home is built 5 stories high to allow maximum sunlight (when there is any) to enter. The roof, entryway and lookout are also designed to accommodate heavy snowfall.

Photos by Koji Sakai

Thanks to @shintajiri (my old roomate) for pointing me towards this awe-inspiring shot of the Tokyo Sky Tree going up. I didn’t think places like this in Tokyo still existed.The Tokyo Sky Tree is on schedule to be completed in 2011.

Kind of related:

• Asakusa Culture and Tourist Information Center by Kengo Kuma

click to enlarge

Architecture firm MS4D, led by Keiji Ashizawa and Katsuhiro Shimizu, created this awesome depiction of their new studio to tell people they had relocated. I’m totally snagging this idea.

Related:

• 2 Courts by Keiji Ashizawa