This is a renovation project of a former liquor store located in a deserted shopping street in a port town. Its program includes restaurants and lodging. The site is in a local city about 2 hours by car from Tokyo. The existing building, which was built about 40 years ago, was a two-story post-modern wooden structure designed by an unknown architect.

What the client asked us to do was create a new design that would blend in with the shopping district. And the initial cost that they showed us was very severe. We had no choice but to use an existing building with a strange design. We decided to use most of that to keep costs down. And we took on the challenge of creating new designs using inexpensive and ubiquitous materials. Furthermore, we used mostly second-hand furniture and equipment. We searched for second-hand goods stores nearby, bought them, and repaired them.

It turned out to be a sustainable initiative. 90% of houses in Japan are made of wood, and most of these houses are rebuilt about 50 years after construction. This time, we decided to renovate and reuse it. This means that CO2 emissions can be reduced by 48%. (https://www.k.u-tokyo.ac.jp/information/category/press/9553.html)

The most distinctive feature of the building's design is its rust facade. The existing exterior wall was made of cement board and was cracked. We covered the entire building with thin zinc boards to improve the waterproofness of the walls. Then we smeared rust onto the zinc board. The design is based on the many warehouses and other buildings in this port town that are covered with zinc boards.

Japan experienced rapid economic development after losing World War II. (high growth:1955-1975 stable:1976-1999)This building was built around that time (1984). In 1983, Arata Isozaki completed Tsukuba Center, a masterpiece of postmodern architecture, in the same prefecture. This was the time when the postmodern movement took the world by storm. This also had an impact on Japan's regional cities. After that, the country falls into a long recession.

This is a regional city in the Far East. We aimed for a design that was both old and new, making use of a small building that had been at the mercy of economic ups and downs.

This is a coffee stand belonging to AoQ, a new brand established by SUETOMI, the renowned confectionery shop in Kyoto. The stand is on Karasuma-dori street which runs from the Kyoto train station, and is located on the ground floor of a two-story wooden building at an intersection surrounded by hotels and office buildings.

The depth of the coffee stand is only about 1 meter and is so small and modest that it can almost be missed in the busy street. Since the depth of it is so shallow, we were quickly able to decide on the floor plan. The kitchen and the resting area were installed side by side, along the street in the front. 

Although the floor plan was decided upon almost automatically, we had to spend more time on what to do with the elevations. We decided to study the vertical side - regardless of the interior and exterior of the stand - and made an effort to chemically try to control the aging of the copper. 

We taped copper foil on the wall, and oxidized it with soy sauce and chemicals. We did this because we wanted the facade to look like something that would be suitable for SUETOMI’s since long established confectionery shop in Kyoto, and also to give it a rusty patina color, which is reminiscent of "Suetomi blue", SUETOMI's corporate color for the past seventy years. 

In fact, SUETOMI's flagship store is located just three minutes away on foot. So we wanted the whole stand to function as a signboard, 1 meter thick, with the color, leading customers to the main store from the busy street. The patina color was used in two areas: the eye-catching side facing the intersection, as well as in the resting area.

Cityscape regulations control the use of facade colors except for on natural materials. The use of the colors was permitted by the local government as it was not painted but was created by the oxidation of copper.

We adequately used soy sauce to slowly let the copper corrode, generating the reddish brown color, as well as ammonium chloride to quickly let the copper corrode, generating the patina color. Without these substances, and if the copper had only been exposed to wind and rain, it would have taken about three months to achieve this reddish brown color, and ten years to get the patina color.

When the cafe is closed, the resting area is covered with a roll screen made of a mesh sheet originally used for the temporary scaffold of a building construction. 

When it is lit at night, it resembles a bamboo blind historically used by Japanese noble families, which lets you see through to the patina color on the wall. It functions as a "street lamp" for pedestrians, but also as a billboard for the store.

A renovation project for a 55-year-old S-structured apartment in Tokyo. This time, the theme given to us by the client was "timeless design." And the client only decided to install the 606 universal shelf designed by Dieter Rams in the living room. All the materials and equipment we have adopted are standard long-selling products from each manufacturer. In addition, considering the age of the building, it was assumed that the fireproof coating of the steel frame contained asbestos, so an enclosure construction method was adopted.
We designed a plain infill that does not make you feel the existence of the frame. Perhaps because the color of the interior is basically white, the interior is surrounded by familiar things, creating a space where time has mysteriously stopped. The only custom piece we designed was the kitchen workbench in the center of the room. It is made by bending a stainless steel plate with a thickness of 1.5 mm. The appearance of the image of the surroundings reflected in the sideways hairline eyes seems to bring about distortion in the "timeless" space as a singular point.

The site is located in Tokyo's old town Asakusa. The street approaching the 1400-year-old Asakusa temple is a popular tourist spot. It is a two-story wooden building situated at the end of a narrow street, just off the main street. We transformed a 70-year-old stamp shop into a restaurant.

We kept the old building as it was, and installed two geometrical forms: the green walls on the ground floor, and the pink ellipsoid object on the ceiling on the first floor.

The green walls attract attention from the street. They also function as bearing walls, supporting the tilted structure after the neighboring house was taken down.

The pink disk is a modern homage to the tearoom, a traditional Japanese architectural style. We changed the round disk to the ellipsoid shape so that it fits the size of the room. It is hanging at the height of 1850mm from the floor, and was painted pink. When you sit on the tatami floor and look up, the color effect makes it impossible to keep a viewpoint, and as a result, the depth feels lost. This gives the narrow tearoom-like space a special, tense, atmosphere.

This restaurant also functions as a tourist information center for the Oku Asakusa area. Oku Asakusa is traditionally well-known as a red-light district - such as Yoshiwara - and there are many bars and many colorful signs. The green walls and the pink object symbolize such places.

Finally, we would like to explain our use of "shakkei", a traditional method used for Japanese gardening. We created a small tsuboniwa (spot garden) by the entrance of the ground floor, and at the end of the first floor. You can see the neighbor's traditional Japanese house on the further side, and also from the window facing the street, you see the new landmark of the area "Tokyo Sky Tree", which was visually "trimmed" by the very narrow alley. We tried to bring in the old and new "shakkei" to this little restaurant.

*Additional notes:
The name of the restaurant "cya shitu nigou (Tearoom Nigo )" means it is the client's second business (Nigo means second in Japanese). But it also implies "second woman", meaning adulterous lover, evoking the association of the red-light district.

This is a relocation project for GRAPH Co.Ltd, a design agency run by designer and artist Kazunari Kitagawa.

The new office space is situated at Hill Side Terrace which was created by Pritzker Prize winner Architect Fumihiko Maki. It is a complex composed of private houses, stores, and offices. The office is next to a mound where a small shrine stands, and where the impressive, beautiful green of the preserved trees can be viewed.

Mr. Kitagawa went to a school designed by the architect. He decided to move into this building because he liked the atmosphere which reminded him of the school. Unfortunately, the space was repeatedly renovated before Mr. Kitagawa decided to relocate, and had become something that no longer reflected the architect's hallmark touch.

The client's main business is graphic design. So we thought it would be logical to keep the elements as simple as possible, and decided to use only the white color throughout the space. We completed the design by installing furniture in the space. The result is aimed at paying the building and its originality maximum respect.

After completion, the client placed four pairs of slippers in four different colors in the all-white entrance. When entering the office, visitors are thus encouraged to take off their shoes - as is the custom in Japanese homes. The impressive scene gives a tense atmosphere to the all-white entrance. It might even lead you to imagine that there is a "kekkai" (boundary zone at a shinto shrine) in the entrance.

The architectural design site is a one-space, duplex apartment located on the outskirts of Tokyo, about an hour away from the city centre. The apartment building was developed in the 1980s, during Japan’s high economic growth period, as part of a 20-building development project. These buildings are located in front of the train station.

The clients are a couple in their 30s with two cats, whose parents live in the same building. The couple wanted to move closer to their parents by embracing the remote-work lifestyle prompted by the Covid-19 pandemic.

It’s a four-story building in which we adopted a wall-type reinforced concrete construction method. The third and fourth floor come with a duplex maisonette. We transformed the smaller areas - which were previously divided by concrete walls - and created a larger, continuous space, decorated with furniture, curtains, and other finishing materials.

One specific example is the 40-year-old stain that was previously quite visible on the main frame. The angled masking tape paint finish has made the concrete frame look softer and the stain has thus become less visible. The lines have been painted in the same angle as the stairs.

The island kitchen is the centerpiece, bringing together all the spaces that were previously spread apart. As a result of the pandemic, family members, who previously lived separate lives under the same roof, have begun to come together, wanting to live closer with each other. We wanted to reflect this social situation in our concept, with the island kitchen symbolizing the concept.

Tokyo Penthouse is a renovation project located in a 40-year-old building, near the Tokyo tower.

Traditionally, rooftop areas have been reserved for machine rooms, but after the Plaza Hotel in New York announced its penthouse project in 1923, a number of penthouses have been built on rooftops around the world. In Tokyo, penthouses are often constructed in an atypical inner space on top of a tall building erected on a small piece of land.

This was exactly such a project.

The renovation project took place on the fifth and sixth floor of the building. When we first visited the space, it looked exactly like a machine room where partition walls were removed. The old concrete skeleton appeared rough, and the complex old piping system was visible. The construction contractor told us we could not remove the pipes since they were connected to the elevators and neighbouring units.

We decided to make a design that would allow for the old and the new to coexist. The concrete has purposely been exposed in a manner that respects the composition of the interior, and has been repaired, treated and painted with masking and graduation painting, reinforcing the charm of the old industrial details of the building. The exposed piping has been wrapped with copper so that you can enjoy the aging of the material over time.

The most characteristic trait of this project is the inner windows made of stained glass which was created with acrylic boards stained with rust. It is just like a specimen of rust taken from the surface of metals (steel and copper) after oxidation. We literally sealed the aging metals in the acrylic boards. It creates a mysterious environment which is contemporary but at the same time old-fashioned and nostalgic.

After the transformation of this space, it is almost as if the penthouse has been incorporated in the machine room. For far too long, Tokyo’s rooftops have gone to waste, and this is how we express our critique to that.

Small houses for ”RYOKAN”

These are houses for making profits. The clients live in one of the houses, and make profits by accommodating guests. These are also houses which gave the clients the opportunity to start a second career. They function as both a residence and a Ryokan (Ryokan = traditional Japanese inn) situated by the sea. The accommodation for the guests is rented out as an entire building on its own. The clients are a young married couple, who had a side business renting out their old traditional Japanese house to tourists in Tokyo. Then, they decided to move to Kamakura. They were looking for a space where they could live and also welcome their guests. We turned almost the entire space into a space for welcoming guests, and their living space has become minimal. As a result, it has become two small houses.

The clients’ goal is to be a "counter" option to those major hotels even though it is small and a newcomer. The site was situated in a dense residential area, and the short side was facing the sea. We planned to create the small main house and annex, and place a Japanese garden in the center. By building the two separate houses, it gives a premium to the rental business as it is rented out as an "entire place", and also the movement lanes between the two buildings make it possible to enjoy both the ocean view and the Japanese garden. The ground floor of the main building is a dining room where you can enjoy the ocean view over the building. Only the second floor is a residential area for the clients.

This is an interior design project for a restaurant situated in the large shopping mall directly connected to Shibuya station. The compartment planned to be used is located in the very end of the restaurant floor of the building, and there were no windows, which makes this project more challenging.

The restaurant facade is created with Noren or shop curtains, made of coarse, see-through fabric originally for gardening, and they cover the entire area. It should have a good visibility from the common corridor, and protect customers from the eyes of passers-by while making sure about the spatial expanse of both the interior and exterior of the restaurant. This is why we have chosen the see-through material.

It is an Izakaya, and what is special about this place is that they offer different ways of drinking by strictly adjusting the temperature of sake according to the more than 300-year-old tradition. The owner has requested that the restaurant should keep the formality while being casual enough for female customers.

In order to fulfill the seemingly conflicting request, we used the coffered ceiling, a traditional Japanese architectural style, as a motif. We purposely created the dropped ceiling, instead of a coved ceiling traditionally associated with a high status, so the meaning has been changed.

Also, 30mm rectangular lumber made of pine trees where the sides are painted black was used so that it assimilates with the black ceiling. As a result, the lumber looks like grid frames which have lost the materiality.

Shibuya is a city for young people, which goes through constant redevelopments and changes. Under the parodied, re-designed ceiling, you see many women happily enjoying sake.

Noren:
Using Noren as the restaurant facade. Noren is a shop curtain used for traditional shops and restaurant in Japan. We used the see-through gardening fabric this time.

“CHANPON” - Regional Ramen noodle restaurant in Tokyo

This is a project for a “Chanpon” noodle restaurant near the Komazawa Olympic park. A young couple asked a former Chanpon restaurateur from Fukuoka to come to Tokyo to open a new restaurant together with them.

While the client wanted to keep the interior design as simple as possible, they had a special request to set up eaves for the waiting area - the partition between the table/chair area and the tatami area – as well as a shade for the storage and kitchen areas to add some detail. Due to the limited space available, accommodating these secondary requests was a challenge in this project.

“Chanpon”, which is well-known Japanese ramen noodle is a by-product of other foods, believed to have been created by mixing leftovers. Therefore, we decided to design the space by paying attention to the origin of this food.

The eaves, the shade, and the partition are made of colored polycarbonate resin and parachute code, which was meant to give a light impression. The simple interior is highlighted by exposing the reinforced-concrete structure which inevitably shows off the electric wiring, the joints between the tiles, and the cables, and so we decided to use the same color. What we are trying to do here is to accommodate all the by-products of the space with different materials and purposes, and make it possible for them to co-exist in the same space.

“Chanpon” is a ramen noodle originating from the island of Kyushu, which is Japan’s entry to the Asian continent, and is well-known for its liberal and generous spirit. We tried to design a restaurant just like the “Chanpon” noodle where byproducts mix freely together to create a mysterious harmony - all in the same bowl.

This is a plan for a liquor storehouse which is to be built between a new residential area and a commercial strip. We focused on the incoherence and duality of the scenery and then recombined them to create an entirely new landscape.
In line with the insular shops of Road Town, we dismantled the open storehouse, made it align with the local environment and commercial activity, and made an entirely complex structure.
The periphery of the structure is an outdoor space used by warehouses and stores. Within the sequence of comings and goings, we are weaving together the coexistence of both work and town.

Home renovation for a young couple. By re-examining the previous layout, where the space was cut into small pieces, we maximized the depth and volume by creating one large space which gives more mobility to the rooms. At the same time, we have set up sliding doors which create partitions when necessary. Regarding the design, it is playful as there are red and blue colors that appear only when you close the doors. It is a stylish touch, just like colored lining of some garment.
The play of colors was extended to the electric cables, furniture, and backsides of doors. That is why the house is called “Bico”, named after the French word “bicolore” The red and blue colors in a rather simple, large space are symbolic for the newly married couple, and of the beginning of their new life together.

This unique apartment is located in the very heart of Tokyo, inside a low-rise apartment complex, one block from a major highway.

The client had been searching for a convenient location in central Tokyo and found this thirty-seven year old apartment located in the attic of the building complete with long, sloping ceilings and a raw interior.





The sloped ceilings have been converted into a skylight allowing in natural sunlight with a wonderful unobstructed view of the city. Since this apartment is to be used for accommodation purposes, we took the unique character of the apartment and added a hotel-like atmosphere.

In order to achieve harmony between the industrial attic interior and a welcoming hotel-like atmosphere, soft painting techniques that resembles traditional Japanese paper called “Washi” are used on the surface of the raw concrete walls and ceilings. This original texture is created with resin sheets that are normally used as slip-proof mats under carpets. These mats are cut to A4 size, attached to the interior walls and spray-painted. Once the sheets are removed, it appears to be the texture of traditional Japanese Washi paper.





This type of “hotel apartment” is a wonderful alternative to the existing hotel industry in central Tokyo. Plans are in place to increase these types of apartments in Tokyo with this apartment being the first test model for future projects. Due to websites like Airbnb, there has been an increase in popularity with these type of short-term apartment rentals.

During the 1980’s, Japan’s economic bubble created a host of “Pencil Buildings”. These were tall, slender structures built to utilize small plots of land in Tokyo for maximum profitability. This project will rejuvenate these already existing structures breathing in new life to old utilitarian buildings generated by the city long ago

The project is an intervention of an aged shed situated in a small port town of Hitachinaka city, Ibaraki.
The owner finally decided to demolish this rusty timeworn shed this spring. The finishing blow that determined its fate was the tsunami that devastated the area two years ago. We, who were looking for a location for a kiosk for an art event which was booked for the same timing as the demolition, decided to borrow this shed and add a bit of face-lift for its twilight days.

Using leaves collected by local students, we held an art workshop. We press-dried the leaves as you would to make dry flower, attached them to the rusted corrugated wall by magnets and spray-painted over them. When these leaves are then peeled off, the pre-existing texture of the old building becomes revealed almost as if the old memory is excavated along with it. We would then use the leaves that were peeled off as a part of a kinetic art. Leaves are placed all around the shed as if to retrace the shape of the building.

For the duration of the summer art event in this small port town which still the scar of the earthquake disaster remains, the leaves mobile that has replicated the memory of the building passively sways with the slight air movement giving a sense of coolness to this small resting kiosk like a “ Fulin ”(Japanese glass wind chime).

This is a renovation project of a nondescript apartment. Client is a painter, bought a room in an apartment built 25 years for herself to live in. The client’s request was that she wants to have a small studio that also functions as a living room.

When the preexisting wallpaper of the room was removed, the walls and ceilings made of concrete bared old dirt and repair putty surface. To use as a studio, this kind of rough finish seemed appropriate, but as a living room it seemed too dirty and stark. I decided to turn this into an advantage, to make use of this unique texture of the concrete by complementing it.

I translated the procedure used in stencil graffiti. By pasting a resin stencil on top of the concrete wall and painting white on top of it, the rough textured concrete and the newly painted white parts are intertwined.

The aging of the building is not only about becoming old. It has some very special quality that can be cherished, very similar to a favorite dress being remade. We think that the dirt accumulated is a part of a small history of this apartment

that is handed down from one owner to the other. New texture promotes a strange harmony when mixing with the old.