Hasta La Ideas

Garments hang from a wall-mounted wooden grid inside this Osaka fashion boutique that Japanese studio Ninkipen! has recently completed (+ slideshow).

The store for Japanese fashion brand Ring has an L-shaped plan and the wooden structure wraps the prominent inside corner to create a flexible display hanger.

“We tried to create uniqueness in this shop by maximizing the potential of the given space,” said Ninkipen! founder Imazu Yasuo.

Cement boards line the two walls behind this grid, contrasting with the white-painted surfaces of the remaining walls.

Fluorescent lighting tubes hang from the ceiling on wires to illuminate the space from above. “Utilising the high ceilings, they light the whole space uniformly,” explained Yasuo.

Additional garments are presented on glass tabletops and within recesses in the walls.

Ring Osaka is located in the Herbis Plaza shopping centre.

Ninkipen! have previously worked on various shop fit-outs, including a clothing shop with fake doors and a bakery where bread is displayed on a wooden sleeper. See more stories about design by Ninkipen! »

Above: floor plan

Photography is by Hiroko Kawata.

The post Ring Osaka
by Ninkipen! appeared first on Dezeen.

This concrete house in Tokyo by Japanese architect Hiroyuki Ito has a glazed stairwell that splits the building into two distinct halves.

Ito, of O.F.D.A. Associates, describes the three-storey house as “two boxes” containing a mix of both rooms and courtyards.

Named Takanawa House, the building accommodates living rooms and bedrooms on both sides of the central divide, while a small single bedroom is suspended above the stairwell on the top floor.

“The staircase landings that connect the boxes are actually bridged by concrete cantilevering floors, which barely touch,” said Ito. “The same gap in the roof forms a thin skylight permitting a sliver of sunlight to help illuminate the circulation space below.”

Walls and ceilings inside each of the rooms are painted white but the interior of the stairwell features the same exposed concrete surfaces as the building’s exterior, with a textured finish that reveals the markings of its wooden formwork.

Two courtyards are located on opposites sides of the ground floor and are orientated to each receive daylight at different times of day.

Windows puncture all four facades, but are relatively small in comparison with the glazed stairwell. “The facade contains minimal openings, in order to have relevant relations with neighbours in this area,” explained Ito.

There are also glazed walls inside the house so residents can look down onto the courtyards from rooms on the upper floors.

Other Japanese houses we’ve featured recently include one with a secluded balcony and one with a sweeping facade.

See more houses in Japan »

Photography is by Daici Ano.

Above: site plan

Above: ground floor plan

Above: first floor plan

Above: second floor plan

Above: section one

Above: section two

The post Takanawa House by Hiroyuki Ito
and O.F.D.A. Associates appeared first on Dezeen.

Japanese studio Mattch has completed a family house in Nagoya with a sweeping facade that stretches out towards the corner of its plot (+ slideshow).

While the rear and side walls of House H are straight, Mattch designed the roof of the building as an irregular gable that curves up then down as it runs along the length of the building.

“I let the form of the ceiling curve gently to diffuse the light that enters through the slit-shaped top light on the north side of the ridge,” said architect Ryuji Takenaka.

The curved elevation frames the outline of a patio at the entrance, while a row of timber rods screens a sheltered deck that could be used for storing bins or bicycles.

Glass walls slide back to connect the patio with the interior, where a kitchen, living room and dining room occupy one double-height space at the front of the building.

A traditional Japanese room filled with Tatami mats is also located in this space but can be partitioned off when necessary behind folding translucent screens.

A mezzanine floor is positioned above the bedroom and bathrooms to provide a multi-purpose room at the rear of the home.

The owner of the residence works for a paint company, so the interior was decorated using white paint he supplied. “[He] wanted to make a showroom for visitors,” explained Takenaka.

Wooden flooring runs through each room, while exposed wooden columns provide extra support for the concealed steel framework.

House H is one of many projects we’ve published that are named after letters of the alphabet and you can see more by catching up with our A-Zdvent calendar, which is counting down one house every day until Christmas.

Other Japanese homes we’ve featured recently include one that generates all its own energy and heating.

See more houses in Japan »

Photography is by Nacasa & Partners.

Above: ground floor plan – click above for larger image

Above: first floor plan – click above for larger image

The post House H
by Mattch appeared first on Dezeen.

The new Tokyo flagship store for Japanese fashion brand Takeo Kikuchi has been specifically designed by Schemata Architects to offer a richer experience than online shopping, with spaces for relaxation as well as display.

“Today we can easily buy clothes online, and we already have enough knowledge and experiences and know how to judge good products from bad ones in our economically maturing society. What is the role of a flagship store then?” questions Schemata‘s principal Jo Nagasaka.

The architects created the new Takeo Kikuchi store within an existing three-storey building in Shibuya, where they upgraded the glazed facade that is typical of most retail buildings by adding timber-framed windows that can be opened individually to let fresh air into different spaces.

“We questioned the fact that most shops and offices are enclosed without natural ventilation throughout the year and usually heavily air-conditioned in summer and winter,” explain the architects.

Inside, wooden boxes create partitions and display cases that look like packing crates, while chairs, stools and benches are dotted around between.

There are no checkouts, so shop assistants wander around the store to take payment from customers, who can enter the store using four different entrance points.

Visitors can also take time out from browsing by visiting a garden at the back of the store or having a seat on one of several concrete stools along the shopfront, which the architects cast inside fabric sacks.

On the first floor, glass walls offer a look into the atelier of brand designer, Takeo Kikuchi. ”We intend to create a mutual relationship between designer and customers,” explain the architects.

Other details inside the store include a concrete wall that appears to be padded, a set of reclaimed Windsor chairs that have been sanded to reveal the grain of the wood and cabinets with leather door panels.

“We want to inspire customers to look at things with fresh eyes and minds by revealing ‘extraordinariness’ in ordinary things,” say the architects.

On Dezeen we’ve also featured a Japanese entertainment store designed in response to the rise of online shopping.

See more projects by Schemata Architects, including a food-photography studio and an office with a mirrored wall and a slide.

Photography is by Nacása & Partners.

Here’s a project description from Jo Nagasaka:

Takeo Kikuchi SHIBUYA

Takeo Kikuchi is one of the most distinguished and long-time popular menswear brand in Japan established in 1984. The brand is opening the long-awaited Global Flagship Store in Shibuya.

The site is a very wide and flat site located along Meiji Douri Avenue. Four entrances are located along the street, so customers can enter from various points and freely stroll around the space, while looking at display furniture that is randomly located across the space like a forest.

We didn’t want to set a singular circulation route, and we prepared multiple circulation routes as if the streets are extending into the store. Customers can freely move around and enjoy unique shopping experience according to his/her taste and mood.

We did not provide any cash register counter, as the key to this new Takeo Kikuchi store is intimate person-to-person communication between shop staff and customers.

So we eliminated cash register counters, which would normally strongly dominate space in typical stores, and encourage direct communication for more joyful shopping experiences.

Above: ground floor plan – click above to see larger image

Completion date: November 2012
Location: Shibuya-ku, Tokyo, Japan

Above: first floor plan – click above to see larger image

Building area: 198.96 sq m
Total floor area: 397.92 sq m(1F+2F)
Floors: 1F 2F
Structure: steel

Above: front elevation – click above to see larger image

The post Takeo Kikuchi Shibuya by
Schemata Architects appeared first on Dezeen.

Japanese firm Torafu Architects renovated this auto repair shop in Tokyo to make it look as sleek as a car showroom (+ slideshow).

Type One, located in the Ogikubo area of Tokyo, was designed by Torafu Architects to function as a display area as well as a body shop. “We designed [it to] look like a showroom in order to welcome clients who visit here to repair their car,” they told Dezeen.

The skylights have been tidily boxed in with aluminium panels, which reflect more natural light into the shop, while strip lights travel down the ceiling in two narrow lines.

The walls are covered in cement-bonded wood strips, which feel rough to the touch and add to the utilitarian aesthetic. A new partition wall has also been added to conceal a storage space.

The two-post car lifts are painted grey to blend in with the muted tones of the walls and ceiling and to set off the colours of the cars.

The architects also designed grey push carts and trolleys so that mechanics can easily store and move their parts and tools.

“We treated these new elements as equal to the elements that were originally present, by adopting these material and expressive items that are both essential and emblematic to a repair shop,” the architects told Dezeen.

We’ve featured lots of projects by Torafu Architects on Dezeen, including a concrete house for a wheelchair user and a desk that looks like a doll’s house.

See all our stories about Torafu Architects »
See all our stories from Japan »

Photographs are by Takumi Ota.

Here’s some more information from the architects:

Speedshop Type One

We designed the renovation of a body shop specialising in Honda vehicles that would function as a repair shop as well as a display floor for visitors. The design calls for maximising the working area by thoroughly sorting out essential and non-essential elements with a focus on servicing functionality.

As elements of the interior design plan, we adopted material and expressive items that are both essential and emblematic to a repair shop, such as gray two-post car lifts, aluminum fittings and tool wagons. Care was given to treat elements that were originally present the same way as new ones, such as the aluminum canopy hanging from the top lights, push carts and the rough-feeling cemented excelsior board walls.

The design highlights the vehicles on display in the repair shop by using desaturated colors and common materials to adjust the tone of the space where the old blends with the new.

The picture of a shop with cars on lifts, exposed engines and tools is aimed at creating a functional yet slick-looking space that can serve as a promotional area.

Principle use: Vehicle repair shop / factory
Production: Ishimaru / Sanraku
Building site: Ogikubo, Tokyo
Total floor area: 458.98 sq m
Design period: 2012.07-09
Construction period: 2012.09-10

The post Speedshop Type One
by Torafu Architects appeared first on Dezeen.