This Building In Tokyo Which Simultaneously Breaks And Adheres To The Rules Governed by a brief citing ‘Silicon Valley’ as a model reference for the building, as well as strict regulations imposed by the surrounding buildings – Tomoyuki Kurokawa and his team of architects had to design a space which combined business and education which was visually pleasing, functional and respectful of it’s neighbours. The result is a six-storey concrete building with windows punctured into the various angles, corners and roofs of the irregular shaped structure. The stairwells are open to the elements, balconies slot neatly into jutting corners and a roof garden stands proudly atop: allowing its visitors to survey the city and the nearby Tokyo Institute of Technology. Raw yet polished, the building is airy both inside and out and it’s asymmetry adds to it’s infinite charm. The abnormal shape of the building is largely due to the regulations on building height allowed in the area and the Tomoyuki had to abide by the sunlight guidelines in order to not obstruct natural light from the other tightly-squeezed in buildings. “The building form was derived from the calculations of setback and shadow-casting regulations,” the architect explains, “while the volume of the building was defined by the necessary areas and spaces for the array of residences and users.” Employees are able to enter the large entrance space, where people are encouraged to draw on the walls, and work peacefully in the office while students can wander down the corridor – almost an extension of the street outside – and spread out across the variety of other spaces without disturbing one another. Meetings take place in a rounded wooden seating area and the atmosphere is casual yet slick. We spoke to the architect behind this intriguing building to find out more. The Plus: How did you balance the variety of spaces in the project? Tomoyuki Kurokawa: The apartment contains several spaces but all of them have a relationship with the owner. We didn’t think of it as dividing each space but balancing them in order to strengthen the relationship between residents. TP: How did the restrictions of the area contribute to the final design for the building? TK: The site had a regulation for the height of building and for sunlight influence to neighbouring blocks. As a result, balconies are produced as gaps between those two design criteria in three-dimensional manner. While these balconies could be shared by the residents through void spaces with maintaining their own privacies, such three-dimensional condition does not clearly divide the void space into pieces for an attached property of a particular residence. TP: How does this project differ from your other work? TK: This project was more governed by its surroundings than other projects we have done. The site is located within the shopping district near the university. An entrance hall is situated along with a town street and opened to the city, so that the open area can be used as a lecture space for the students, or as a casual drop-by space for any city residents. The common hallway from the entrance hall is also designed as the extending passage from the town street, equipped with benches, lightings and plants for creating the atmosphere of a city street. TP: What materials are mainly used in the project? TK: We used exposed concrete for the exterior finish, all the floors are wooden and the walls and ceilings are all wall papered. TP: what’s next for you? TK: Housing within a small factory and the complex task of building amanufacturing facility for regional vitalization. Photo by Takumi Ota
