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.

A neat row of wooden louvers conceals a small sleeping chamber inside the attic staffroom of a hair salon in Hamamatsu, Japan.

Japanese firm 403architecture started the renovation by stripping the walls, ceiling and floor of the loft bare, before laying the roof rafters as floorboards.

The former floorboards were recycled to create the walls and ceiling of the louvered bedroom, which is propped up on one side where the floor level changes.

The ceiling overhead is left unfinished, with exposed lighting fixtures and ventilation ducts.

This is the third unusually titled interior we’ve published recently from 403architecture – see the first two here.

Photography is by Kenta Hasegawa.

Here’s a description from 403architecture:

The Grid of Santen

This project is the staffroom of the hair salon in Hamamatsu, Japan.

The client needed a space to take a nap and meal. Fortunately, there is a timber deserted loft at the rooftop of the same building.

So we aimed at solving this contradictional demands  by using materials from this rooftop loft.

At first we wrecked this loft, then calculated all of materials. Then, we begun to study on the CAD, which means that we constructed the actual measure and materials in the virtual space.

Also in the construction term, we used the huge parking to spread lots of materials as if in the virtual space of the CAD. We choose the “site prefabrication”.

We converted “ex beam”  to the new floor, and  “ex floor board” to the new columns, and “ex joist” to the new beam for the structural system of layering miner grids.

Ex floor board which become columns works as double louver controlling eye view, keeping air flow.

And this louver solve that contradictional demands “nap” and “meal”. With each louver, one side was painted white, the other side was not painted.

So we can see this volume as white, light one from the entrance, in the other hand, we can see as massive wooden volume from the cutting space. We wanted to propose an alternative distance.

Inside is white space but actually it looks soft yellow because the light from outside moves around and reflects with the non-painting louver.

The surface of each material painted white has a marbled pattern because we wanna use existing pattern of the each materials which consist of the loft.

And this volume hanged out from the ceiling to simplify each connection by canceled the weight of itself.

Though out this project, we reconstructed every topic of the architecture such as structure, program, study, construction, window, volume, surface by converting the structure which had already constructed to the new system.

Japanese architects 403architecture have turned the floor of this refurbished apartment in Hamamatsu into a huge chest of drawers.

It was only during the renovation that the architects discovered the large void beneath the suspended floor and decided to use it for storage.

Clear, corrugated plastic fronts the new sliding drawers, while scaffolding supports shelves behind and the floor slabs above.

Sheets of white fabric hang like shower curtains from a railing affixed to the exposed concrete ceiling and circle the lower level of the open-plan living room.

You can see more interiors that look unfinished here, including an office with wooden pallets for desks.

Photography is by Kenta Hasegawa.

Here’s a few more words from 403architecture:

The Difference of Ebitsuka

While managing the construction process of an apartment in Hamamatsu, 403architecture [dajiba] discovered a deep false floor, changed plans. And we used the empty space to generate a new lifestyle.

This building has only 15 apartments on 3 floors and it is located along the river. The room in focus is on the ground floor. During construction, we discovered this amazing underfloor space and we decided to use it.

Multi-purpose storage cabinets rest under the micro-mezzanine. We want to use architectural improvisation as a trigger to a more imaginative life.

Rough concrete columns and beams frame the living room ceiling of an apartment in San Sebastian.

The beachside apartment was renovated by local architects pauzarq, who removed partitions that previously split a bay window into three separate rooms.

The open-plan living and dining room now face the entire window and lead out to a balcony beyond.

A recessed skirting creates a visual break between new interior walls and a retained timber floor, as well as around the doorframes.

Pendant lamps with slack wire hang from the apartment ceiling.

We recently grouped together stories about buildings that intentionally look as if the builders haven’t quite finished up – see all the projects here.

The description below is from pauzarq:

Apartment in San Sebastian (Spain) by pauzarq

The renovated flat is located in a residential building in the district of Gros, a few steps away from the beach Zurriola in San Sebastian.

The old apartment layout was characterized by the succession of different independent rooms, communicated through a single distributing corridor. This situation generated the division of the wide bay window into three separate pieces, impeding its overall perception.

Click above for larger image

The bay window is recovered as the cornerstone of the apartment where the kitchen-living-dining room is located. That is the public area of the flat, close to the entry. The orientation is double-facing, allowing double cross ventilation and lighting in this centrepiece of the home. On the other hand, one bedroom is located in each piece with balcony.

Click above for larger image

The reform aims to enhance the structural value of the building and for that we discover the concrete beams and pillars of the centrepiece. The visual potential of these elements added to the great floor-to-ceiling height of the flat gives to this area its prominent role. As well, we decided to keep the old wooden floor, the new partitions should be light, taking care of the feeling they appear to levitate above the continuous original floor. Consequently we executed a recessed skirting solution that runs the flat and adapts as a door frame.

Work: Apartment renovation in San Sebastian (Spain)
Location: Donostia-San Sebastian (Spain)
Renovated area: 95 m²
Year: 2011
Architects: pauzarq (Felipe Pérez Aurtenetxe, Elena Usabiaga Usandizaga, Gerardo Zarrabeitia Ullíbarri)

See also:

.

Penthouse apartment by Lecarolimited	Seaside Apartment by Ooze	Apartment by Cut Architectures

In the last few weeks we’ve published a few projects that intentionally look as though the builders haven’t left yet. Here’s a roundup of all the apartments, salons and shops on Dezeen that feature patches of plaster, scaffolding, dangling wires and hoarding-like woodwork. See all the stories »