Hasta La Ideas

The stairwell ascending through the centre of this Tokyo house is illuminated from a skylight and glows through translucent glass partitions.

Designed by Japanese firm Takehiko Nez Architects, the three-storey residence has a stark interior of unfinished plywood and streaky white paint.

The house is named Urban Hut and has an open-plan layout on each floor that will accommodate a brother and sister.

You can also see more projects that look like they aren’t quite finished by clicking here.

Photography is by Takumi Ota.

The following text is from Takehiko Nez:

Urban Hut

The young clients, sister and brother, lost parents at their teens, lived in the downtown Tokyo. Modest, rough and tough house to have a strong hold on the changes of the times like weeds is suitable for them.

The house without finish on façade stands in disordered scenery of typical downtown.
It was required maximum floor in the compact box on 30 square meters’ site and basic performance as a private house.

The central staircase with the roof light sends sunlight to each spaces through the studs and stairs rising to the top floor without a landing to the middle floor.

The partitions of translucent glass and plywood give the adequate relationship and privacy in the two completely different rhythm and pattern of life.

It can be called an urban vernacular house that is compactly made by the raw material like a corrugated cardboard house, made with skin and born like a hut, stacked with thin objects and narrow spaces in the tiny lot.

If the house’s magnetism is not greatest at completion but greater gradually for the lifespan, creator’s role of the house should be inherited from architects to residents to accustom itself to their lifestyle.

Tolerance letting residents’ imagination intervene is designed as stacking spaces with half scale, shallow blank gap, and incomplete finishes. It is pleased that clients are managing to live comfortably with unexpected discovery beyond the pre-established imagination.

Architect: Takehiko Nez Architects

Status: completed July 2011
Location: Tokyo, Japan

Collaborators:
Structure: ASA
Contractor: Shinei

Site area: 30.37sqm
Total floor area: 44.26sqm

The top floor of this Tokyo house by Japanese architects Apollo appears to be caving in.

Located on a hillside, the three-storey residence has a large roof terrace and oversized windows that overlook the city.

The angled second floor walls slope around a children’s bedroom, whilst a lightweight metal staircase winds down to a living room and balcony on the floor below.

A master bedroom and two bathrooms occupy the ground floor, alongside a garage for storing and repairing the client’s motorcycle.

Floors throughout the house are surfaced in dark walnut, as are cabinets in the living room and kitchen.

Apollo Architects & Associates have completed a few houses with angled walls – see all our stories about them here.

Photography is by Masao Nishikawa.

Here’s some more text from the architects:

Vista (Nishidai Itabashi ward Tokyo)

The clients were a husband-and-wife couple. He works as the director of an advertising agency, while she works in the food business.

The couple purchased a plot of land that faces the cliff of a plateau and commissioned us to build a wooden three-storey residence for themselves and their child.

In order to make the most of the magnificent view overlooking the north side of the plot, we decided to activate the latent potential of the location by installing panoramic windows inside the house that would give the residents an unobstructed view of the scenic surroundings.

The first floor was compactly outfitted with a small, Japanese style straw-matted bedroom, as well as a bathroom and dressing area with an attached terrace.

Each of these spaces commanded a handsome view of the landscape outside.

The second storey was configured as a single, open room with an attached roof balcony.

Bookshelves were also installed on the structural walls, while a table at the edge of the dining area provides a comfortable space for reading, creating a library-like atmosphere.

In addition, we made an effort to emphasize the impression of diving downwards that results from the height difference between the dining room and the living area.

The child’s room and a large outdoor living space are located on the third floor, which also offers the residents a full, untrammeled view of the beautiful landscape surrounding the house.

Although the scenery visible from the terraces located on each floor is identical, the varied character of each space ensures that a different impression of this single landscape is created each time.

In addition to a car-sized parking space, the entrance to the house also includes a built-in bike garage for the owner’s beloved Ducati motorbike that offers ample room for maintenance and cleaning work to be carried out.

Standing at the foot of the slope and looking up at this sleek, white mass that seems to float on top of the hill, the viewer is struck by this symbolic, monumental presence – an impression that contrasts sharply with the closed appearance presented by the front entrance.

The spatial character of this house, which embodies elements that are both mundane and extraordinary, demonstrates the wealth of possibilities that can be realized in urban residential architecture.

Architecture: Satoshi Kurosaki/APOLLO Architects & AssociatesProject Outline

Location: Nishidai Itabashi ward Tokyo
Date of Completion: 2011.8
Principal Use: Private housing

Structure: Timber structure
Site Area: 54.86㎡
Total Floor Area: 111.78㎡ /1F(42.02㎡),2F(47.41㎡),3F(22.35㎡)
Structure engineers: Masaki Structure Laboratory, Kenta Masaki

Facility engineers: Shimada Architects, Zenei Shimada
Construction: Honma Construction
Material Information
Exterior Finish: hydrotect colorcoat eco-ex

Floor: Walnut Flooring
Wall: Wall paper
Ceiling: Wall paper

Japanese architect Jo Nagasaka of Schemata Architecture Office has completed another Tokyo store for skincare brand Aesop, this time in an old shoe shop.

Aesop Ginza has a red brick interior, which references the brick-tiled facade that was previously painted over by the upstairs tenants.

Brick courses infill the spaces between wooden shelves where products are displayed, while brick units with wooden surfaces house sinks.

You can see more Aesop stores here, including the other Tokyo store by Jo Nagasaka made from materials of a demolished house and a kiosk in New York made of 1000 newspapers.

Other projects by Schemata Architecture Office include an office with a slide and a house in a three metre cube – see all the projects here.

Photography is by Alessio Guarino.

Here’s a few sentences from Jo Nagasaka:

We renovated the 35 year shoe shop “Milano Shoes” into new Aesop Shop in Ginza.

The owner of MIlano Shoes put the brick tiles on the facade of the shop to create a “high-quality mood.”.

But when other tenats of upstair moved into the space they hate the bricks and painted them. Then we designed brick interior in honor of “Milano Shoes”.

Address: Ginza, Chuoku, Tokyo
Usage: Shop
Structure: Steel construction
Completion: 09/2011
Floor space: 38.04m2
Construction: Zest

Heineken brings young designers to Tokyo for a look at five nightlife spots

At the most recent Milan Design Week Heineken launched a global project to design the club of the future. After an international competition and a year-long research process, the nightlife destination will be actually built and unveiled at the 2012 Salone del Mobile.

To get inspiration, the Open Design Explorations brings the winning group of young designers to the best clubs on the planet. Taking place in São Paulo, New York, Milan and Tokyo, Heineken invited us to take part in the Japanese phase of the investigation.

Following an introductory session where all the designers to met and began the process, we tagged along with a group of three Japanese and one English designers continuing the analysis. The four are tasked with observing people and their behaviors—not just the design of the venues.

First up was the fashionable Air in Daikanyama district, famously where Sofia Coppola shot some scenes of “Lost In Translation.” Like all the other clubs we’ll visit, the dance floor is below ground level and the music plays loudly. An all-red VIP room and an area with tables and sofas allows for chatting, drinking and smoking (common in every restaurant and bar in Japan). The music selection includes American music of the late ’70s and early ’80s, great for having a good time—but most seemed to observe rather than dance, probably because it was only just past midnight.

Sure enough, the crowd is starting to arrive when we leave to reach the next club, Unit. Here, the music and the crowd are completely different. In the main area, the deejay plays a mixture of hip-hop, electro and trip-hop. People listen rather than dance, more like a concert-style scenario. One floor down, a bar provides an area for relaxing and (like most of the kids) checking mobile phones. Outside, staff kindly asks us to stay quiet—this is a residential area and, as some signs clearly state, the neighborhood deserves to rest.

Next stop is the Ebisu district, destination Liquidroom. The first area is a large quiet bar; the music isn’t too loud and it’s easy to relax and interact with others. Downstairs there’s a food area, once again almost without music, where club-goers can relax, drink, smoke and eat traditional street food. In the next room, a large dance floor is crowded with revelers drawn to the music played by Mungolian Jetset, a bunch of colorful and pretty peculiar guys in love with the sounds of the Italo Disco and ’80s music. The crowd really appreciates the performance, dancing and screaming throughout.

But the long night out isn’t over, continuing at Eleven, a place for a younger and wilder generation. The Japanese designers that are working at the Heineken project are pretty excited, since this is one of the most popular venues for nightclubbing in Tokyo. Über-pink walls and light in the lounge zone vividly contrast with an extremely dark dance area. The excellent audio system reproduces neat and powerful sounds, while every single person dances alone, randomly lit up by slow and delicate spotlights in just a few pale colors.

It’s almost five in the morning when we head up to our last stop. Module is very close to the Shibuya Crossing, astonishingly empty at this time of day. Here, the designers and the team finally have the chance to relax and party. Pretty small and retro, the venue feels like a cozy, dusty Victorian house—the contrast with the b-boys filling the place couldn’t be stronger. The deejays play vinyl records and choose pop music of the ’60s and ’70s, plus some old kitschy soundtracks.

Une belle captation de la ville de Tokyo et du Japon en technique slow-motion par Alex Lee. Un travail sur le montage des images et la synchronisation. Le tout sur la bande son de “Flying Lotus ft. Thom Yorke- And the World Laughs With You”. A découvrir dans la suite.

Previously on Fubiz

• Yurikamome Series
• Summadayze Colourfornia
• Pi Slow Motion

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