Hasta La Ideas

Japanese architect Jo Nagasaka has stripped an office in south-west Tokyo back to the concrete to create a fashion boutique that looks more like an abandoned warehouse for Japanese brand EEL (+ slideshow).

Nagasaka, of Schemata Architecture Office, explains that he associates garments with uncomfortable warmth, so wanted to design a cool interior that counteracts this feeling. “I wanted to make the background as calm as possible,” he explains.

Rather than adding new elements to the space, most of the renovation involved peeling away unnecessary layers and sanding down rough surfaces.

“Our construction process was mostly subtraction,” he says. “We intend to leave this space somewhat incomplete and when clothes are set in place it will be complete.”

The architects removed the carpet of the old office and sanded down the exposed floor to create a smooth surface. They also pulled down a suspended ceiling to reveal lighting fixtures, electric cables and ventilation pipes.

Bookshelves and large boxes made from lauan plywood are scattered around the room as display areas for folded garments and accessories. Other hang from welded stainless-steel racks or from cables strung across the ceiling.

A wall of concrete blocks separates the shop floor from storage areas at the back, while a glass partition creates a small meeting room to one side.

Jo Nagasaka launched Schemata Architecture Office in 1998 and has since worked on a number of shop interiors, as well as residential projects, office interiors and furniture design. Past projects include Paco, a house contained in a three metre cube, and the Tokyo flagship for fashion brand Takeo Kikuchi. See more design by Schemata Architecture Office on Dezeen.

Photography is by Takumi Ota.

Here’s a project description from Jo Nagasaka:

EEL Nakameguro

Creating a sense of ‘incompleteness’ was the key to our design. In my mind clothes are associated with warmth of human body, sometimes that feeling gets too intense and uncomfortably hot. This is why I wanted to make the background as calm as possible.

We intend to leave this space somewhat incomplete and when clothes are set in place it will be complete. So our construction process was mostly ‘subtraction’, that is, dismantling, peeling, and scraping unnecessary layers, except for a few ‘additional’ elements.

The site was formerly used as office space. For the floor, we peeled off the existing carpet and sanded exposed mortar undercoat thoroughly to make it perfectly horizontal and ‘super-flat’.

As a result we created unique random mosaic pattern. In some places aggregates are revealed, and in other places finer particles cover up the surface.

We also removed all the finishing materials – paint, baseboard, insulation etc. – from walls and ceiling, and hidden surface of concrete that is unfinished and not ready for public viewing is now exposed. By reversing the construction process, a state of ‘incompleteness’ reappears.

Display fixtures are also constructed halfway and left at a state of ‘incompleteness’. Stainless steel mirror and frame are welded for assembly and we left the weld joint unpolished, so it creates interesting patterns on the surface.

Hanging racks are made of anti-corrosive coated steel pipes. Surface coating is removed at joints then they are welded together. And we erase burnt traces of welding but leave steel surface unpainted.

Wooden boxes, used as display base, are made of lauan wood. It is a kind wood usually used for underlay, but we leave it unpainted. These unfinished elements reinforce our design concept of ‘incompleteness’.

Other elements are added to this space: glass partition wall, fitting room, concrete block masonry wall separating shop and back room, and a thick steel tension cable that is used to hang clothes, lighting fixtures and electrical wiring for lighting. When the final design element clothes are displayed, the space is complete.

Title: EEL Nakameguro
Architects: Jo Nagasaka／Schemata Architects
Address: Higashiyama Meguro, Tokyo
Usage: Apparel shop

Construction: TANK
Floor area: 123m²
Structure: RC
Completion: 02/2013

Above: floor plan – click for larger image

Above: ceiling plan – click for larger image

Above: section A-A’ – click for larger image

Above: section B-B’ – click for larger image

The post EEL Nakameguro by
Schemata Architecture Office appeared first on Dezeen.

Japanese studio Schemata Architecture Office cast concrete in a fabric bag to give the counter of this confectionary kiosk in Tokyo the texture of a boiled sweet (+ slideshow).

Located within a department store, Papabubble at Tokyo Daimaru is the latest in a chain of handmade candy shops and architect Jo Nagasaka explained how he wanted customers to be able to watch the sweet-making process over the counter.

“We designed a large counter where they do all works such as melting sugar, making patterns, cutting, wrapping and selling,” he said.

The concrete counter folds around the kiosk and displays the rounded edges and creases of its fabric mould. “We made the concrete with an uncommon method, but it was not easy,” Nagasaka told Dezeen. “The concrete pressure is very heavy, but we found a hard enough textile finally.”

Glass panels create transparent screens around some of the preparation areas, while a wall of glazed black tiles provides a shopfront for displaying signage and hanging products.

We’ve previously featured another Papabubble sweet shop in Japan, where colourful liquids are displayed inside glass decanters.

Other projects by Schemata Architecture Office on Dezeen include a store for skincare brand Aesop, a food-photography studio and an office with a slide hidden behind a mirrored wall. See more stories about Schemata Architecture Office.

Here’s a project description from Schemata Architecture Office:

Papabubble Shop

We designed a shop for Papabubble, a world-famous brand of artistic hand-made candies based in Barcelona. This is their first shop to be opened at major department stores in Japan. It is located on B1F at Tokyo Daimaru Department Store, next to Tokyo Station, and we wanted to take advantage of this great location to promote Papabubble’s exquisite artistry and design skills and show their excellence over other similar brands.

Papabubble offers variety of delicious candies-but they not just enjoyable to taste, but also very delightful for the eyes. Their artistic patterns and colors are so impressive that we often wonder how they make such beautiful candies. So we decided to show customers the entire process of their candy making.

We designed a large counter where they do all works such as melting sugar, making patterns, cutting, wrapping and selling. We enveloped backyard area including structural column and storage, and wrapped around the 900 mm high counter with glass so that customers can look over the entire shop. The counter is made of concrete. Concrete is not always heavy, cold and hard-edged like we usually imagine. We used fabric mold to cast concrete, and expressed softness, plasticity and warmness of the material. By touching and looking at this counter we want customers to recognize the original nature of the material.

In the same way we want customers to fully enjoy the Papabubble magic by visually experiencing their intricate making process- and see how sugar magically turns into such beautiful candies.

Location: B1F, Tokyo Daimaru Department Store, Tokyo, Japan
Opening date: October 5, 2012

The post Papabubble at Tokyo Daimaru
by Schemata Architecture Office appeared first on Dezeen.

Slideshow: Japanese firm Schemata Architecture Office have perched a cabin on top of a small woodland cliff in Chiba, Japan.

Named Hanare, the wooden house has a structural steel frame that lifts it above the rocky surface of the ground below.

An industrial ladder leads up into the centre of the building, while an elevator creates a second entrance on the opposite side.

Rooms are arranged along an L-shaped plan, with a main bedroom at one end and a guest room at the other.

In the large space between, wireframe shelves line the lower walls and a curvy tablewraps around a chunky timber column.

A lattice of wooden eaves are exposed on the ceiling and extend beyond the glazed facade to create a shading canopy.

Another ladder inside the house lets residents climb up onto the roof and survey their surroundings.

Schemata Architecture Office also recently completed a shop for skincare brand Aesop, which you can see here alongside some of their other projects.

Photography is by Takumi Ota.

Here’s a little more information from the architects:

This “HANARE” is a annex house in Chiba for the client living in Tokyo to use 2-3 times in a week.

The client bought whole mountain, and we architects dealt with putting the electricity (line), getting drinking water with a fountain, putting a bridge over the irrigation canal, and interior design and architecture, and also construction work.

The site is located in Chiba near sea side, although it is chosen in a mountain on very steep hill on the west and the south side away from 21m hight from a road on a small mountain side.

And the house with the landscape looks like a castle on a hill after all.

About the environment of a house it is that man-made energy to avoid normally in these days, but we use it intentionally and also making an ecological environment using such as 2m long eaves for shading from the west sun though the seasons, Low-E Glass and wooden sash for insulation, and a tromp’s wall for taking natural energy.

Title: HANARE
architects: Schemata Architecture Office

structural engineer: Ejiri Structual Engineers
Contractor: Takaaki Mitsui

Location: chiba prefecture
Typology: residence

Constructed Area: 933.9 m2
Footprint: 181.96 m2

Architectural area: 180.08m2
Construction year: 2011
Structure: steel, wood

Click above for larger image

Click above for larger image

Japanese designer Jo Nagasaka of Sschemata Architecture Office presented this series of wooden tables with fluorescent resin encasing their gouged-out tops at Spazio Rossana Orlandi in Milan last month.

Called Shrine Flat-table, the piece is based on a traditional Japanese design with eight legs.

The colour of the resin is more or less intense depending on the varying depths of the wood across its surface.

More about Sschemata Architecture Office on Dezeen »

See all our stories about Milan 2011 »

The information below is from Jo Nagasaka:

Flat Table peeled

The Shrine Flat-table is a contemporary interpretation of the traditional Japanese Hassoku dai, which means 8 legged table. The top of the Shrine Table can be separated from its legs.

In addition to the traditional table we added a layer of coloured epoxy poured on a wooden surface which grain had been gushed out to create different depth and by doing so various intensity in colour.

Shrine Flat-table comes in 3 Heights with the following dimensions: 750×300 (top) and total height of 540, 720 or 900mm.

See also:

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Long Chair by Jo Nagasaka	Bench2 by Jo Nagasaka	Paco by Jo Nagasaka

Japanese architect Jo Nagasaka of Schemata Architecture Office used materials reclaimed from a demolished house for the interior of this Tokyo shop for Australian skincare brand Aesop.

Located in a former vegetable shop, the project involved reusing timber, handles and furniture found in the demolished house.

Features of the empty shop such as pipes and drain covers were highlighted by coating in resin.

“We find a demolished house anywhere in the world,” says Nagasaka. “We use a place in different purposes anywhere in the world. We get a space in skeleton condition anywhere in the world.”

More about Schemata Architecture Office on Dezeen »

Photographs are by Alessio Guarino.

Here’s some more information from Aesop:

Aesop is proud to open in Tokyo, on the Ground Floor of the Asada building in Minami-Aoyama. Behind the humble facade sits a small store with a remarkable story.

Architect Jo Nagasaka, when considering how to create a functional yet poetic retail space for Aesop’s range of skin and hair products, came upon an abandoned house, the Murazawa residence in Nakano- ku.

Recognising the possibilities for reusing the wooden boards and beams, Nagasaka collaborated with Aesop Director Dennis Paphitis on a design that incorporates old and new materials, and pays homage to Japan’s well-established tradition of fusing modern and traditional.

The project was challenging, but the result is a space that is simple, practical and warm.

Aesop was founded in 1987. We offer a range of exceptional skin, hair and body products through our thirty international concept stores, and department and specialty store counters.

The brand has attracted a loyal following from the beginning for our unwavering commitment to product ingredients, minimalist packaging, and intelligent communication with our customers.

While our beginnings were in hair care, Aesop now boasts a line of over seventy products, more than half of which are skin care.

Aesop stands apart from other companies in our refusal to be anything other than transparent, humble and sincere.

We make every product with the same attention to detail that we believe should be applied to life at large.

Our company advocates the use of our range as part of a life that includes good food, plentiful travel and a healthy dose of books.

Aesop Aoyama
Site: Shibuya ward Tokyo

Principal use: Shop
Structure RC

Total floor area 74.89m²
Office area 28.66m²
Shop area 46.23m²

Construction: Sekiguchi Corporation
Epoxy: Syuhei Nakamura

Completion: Dec.2010

See also:

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