Hasta La Ideas

The three-layered facade of this riverside house in Tsukubamirai, Japan, was intended by local studio Kichi Architectural Design to reference rippling water (+ slideshow).

Named Ripple, the three-storey family home has a blank white facade comprising three windowless walls,  which incrementally increase in size. Once conceals a balcony, while another screens the house’s entrance.

“The facade which consists of three white outer walls, is suggestive of triple ripples on the surface of the river,” said Naoyuki Kikkawa, architect and co-founder of Kichi Architectural Design.

The house is set back from the nearby river and is surrounded by cherry blossom trees, which the architect says are typical of this area.

“It is a house that enables its residents to live closely with the cherry trees which manifest all kinds of expressions with the changing of the seasons in Japan,” he said.

The house has a long and narrow plan, with a semi-enclosed courtyard at its centre and a sheltered patio at the back.

Unlike the austere street facade, the rear elevation is fully glazed to bring light into the building and offer residents views out towards the river.

“Based on the shape of the site, one that stretches in a narrow strip toward the cherry trees, I conceived the shape of the house, a U-shaped one, so that every one of its rooms would fully benefit from the light,” said Kikkawa.

The house’s living, dining and kitchen areas occupy one room at the rear of the house. A void in the floorplate overhead creates a double-height space along one edge, while the sheltered patio provides an outdoor dining area.

A lightweight steel staircase leads up to bedrooms and bathrooms on the first floor, then continues up to one of two lofts on the level above.

The second loft sits above the children’s bedroom at the front of the house and can be accessed via a pair two ladders. Glass doors also open the space out to the balcony in front.

Kichi Architectural Design is led by Naoyuki Kikkawa and partner Manami Kikkawa. The studio also recently completed the cube-shaped House of Kubogaoka and a converted farmyard barn named Scandinavian Middle.

Photography is by Ippei Shinzawa.

The post Three white walls front Ripple house
by Kichi Architectural Design appeared first on Dezeen.

A crimped wooden screen with a triangular hole through its centre divides the spaces of this beauty salon in Osaka by Japanese designer Yusuke Seki (+ slideshow).

Yusuke Seki used a simple palette of wood and white paint to make the interior of the Kolmio+LIM salon reflect colours of natural skin tones, then added a selection of pastel colours reminiscent of nail polish.

“We designed the zigzag wall in white to represent the basic skin tone,” Seki told Dezeen. “Through shadow and light it creates more definition.”

The crimped wooden screen cuts the space into two sections, but also folds around a corner to line the edge of a sidewall. “The zigzag wall catches the natural light and evokes differences, like the skin and nail tone does,” added Seki.

A blue-painted feature wall provides a backdrop for the reception area, which features small wooden seats made from tree trunks and a wooden bookshelf.

This space opens into a main room with six wooden tables for nail treatments and two reclining chairs positioned off to the side for pedicure treatments.

Customers have to step through the triangular hole of the crimped wooden screen to access the beauty treatment area at the rear of salon.

Eyelash treatment chairs are separated by shimmering gold curtains that are partially transparent, while a pale pink feature wall with additional mirrors creates an extra seating area.

The pastel colours chosen for the walls reference coloured buildings in the surrounding neighbourhood, while a linear grid of wooden blocks creates a parquet floor.

Photography is by Takumi Ota.

Here’s a project description from Yusuke Seki:

The Nail Salon Kolmio+LIM

The Nail Salon is designed with iconic triangle division as it reflected the meaning of “Kolmio”.

“Kolmio+LIM” is a nail salon located in Osaka, the western capital of Japan, which is where our client LIM started her first hair salon. They have since expanded their beauty business. “Kolmio” is taken from the name (kolmio+LIM) the Nail Salon means triangle in Finish.

The store layout of basic wood and white has been designed to reflect the essential colour of natural skin tones, and the space itself is intended to symbolise the process of nail colouring. The zigzag wall and natural lighting refraction make references to the twinkle glitter reflection of nail polish, and the colour themes of the design represent the various layers of nail polish applied one after another.

Yusuke based the design, of various tones of white, upon basic natural human nail colours. He tried to express the Japanese proverb “Diverse men, diverse minds”, which directly translates as ‘ten people have ten different colour’; as every person has their own skin colour as a base for colouring, to bring a new personality by adding layer upon layer of beauty work requires precision by the nailist.

The coloured walls take their inspiration from the neighbourhood buildings just outside the window, as a way of incorporating the surrounding aesthetics, as part of an overall interior design theme. “Kolmio” is originally an intricate triangle decoration. This stores’ dynamic shapes are inspired by kolnio and possess an iconic value, as well as providing a functional division through the centre of the space. All of the design methods are inspired by there environment, and the actions all happened surroundings.

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crimped screens and golden curtains appeared first on Dezeen.

Uno studio condotto in Giappone ha rivelato che la maggior parte degli utenti nipponici resta particolarmente frustrato se non riesce a cancellare con precisione una parte di testo. Questa gomma da cancellare ha cinque diversi spessori in modo da evitargli ogni sbattimento. Non so quanto possa esservi utile ma anche solo per dire io celo, la trovate su Fancy.

Huge sliding doors at the front and rear of this weekend house in rural Hiroshima allow residents to open out their timber-lined living spaces to the scenic mountain landscape (+ slideshow).

Designed by Japanese studios DYGSA and Koura Architects, Hinanai Village House was constructed from wood and positioned at the peak of its hilly site to take advantage of the panoramic scenery.

A concrete driveway leads up to the house from the adjacent road, arriving at an door within a timber panel. Not only does the door hinge open to create a simple entrance, but the entire panel slides across to reveal that the concrete surface extends right through the building.

“When you open the front door you get the feeling as if the inside space is the continuation of the outside one, and that makes it possible to bring the outdoor activities inside,” explained DYGSA principal Dominik Yoshiya Setoguchi.

The single-storey house has a square-shaped plan and is separated into two sections by a split level. The concrete floor runs along one side to create an entrance lobby and a living room, while a wooden platform creates a step up for kitchen and dining areas.

Floor-to-ceiling windows along the rear elevation open all of these spaces out to the landscape. “The glass doors’ frame acts as a picture frame with the natural landscape in it,” added the architect.

A partition wall runs diagonally through the building, screening bedroom and bathroom spaces along one wall, but also helping to widen views through the rear windows.

Views of the countryside can also be enjoyed from the bath, which has been placed in a corner room with two glass walls.

Timber walls and ceilings are left exposed throughout the interior, while the four outer walls are each treated different differently, displaying a mixture of black, white and exposed timber surfaces.

Photography is by dygsa.

Here’s the project text sent by Koura Architects:

Hinanai Village House

This is a house in Hiroshima, Japan. The house is ideally suited for the client’s family of four – parents and two kids – with the purpose of spending weekends in the natural environment. It is situated on the top of a hill with the spectacular view over the surrounding area.

The one-storey house is in the shape of a square with sides that are 9.5m long. It stands on the front edge of the lot of about 2000 square metres, so the facade of the house shuts out the sight of the garden from the side of the road.

The main partition wall meets the ends at angles 80 and 100 degrees, which widens the view from the inside into the outside and raises awareness about the natural surroundings.

The path made of concrete and leading to the front wooden sliding door stretches to the inside space and reaches the glass sliding doors on the opposite side of the house. So when you open the front door, you get the feeling as if the inside space is the continuation of the outside one, and that makes it possible to bring the outdoor activities inside.

The line of the inside concrete path focuses on the old red pine tree in the garden. Thus, the glass doors’ frame acts as a picture frame with the natural landscape in it. Moreover, on opening the inside sliding doors separating the wooden floor space and the concrete floor space, you get one spacious room.

In this way the ordinary and extraordinary activities blend in one splendid hybrid space.

Location: Hiroshima, Japan
Principal use: house
Structure: wood
Number of storeys: 1 above ground
Site area: 2001.45 sqm
Building area: 91.30 sqm
Total floor area: 91.30 sqm
Collaboration: Koura Architects
Contractor: Fuji Construction

The post Hinanai Village House opens out
to a scenic mountain landscape appeared first on Dezeen.

L’artiste japonais Jun Kitagawa installe des fermetures à glissière géantes dans des lieux publics à travers le Japon. Les œuvres d’art en 2D et 3D sont apparus dans les bâtiments, sur les murs, et dans les étangs révélant un coté mystérieux de ce qui se trouve sous la surface de ces fermetures éclaires entrouvertes.