'Minimalist House' by Shinichi Ogawa & Associates

Not only outwardly but also conceptually this single family house by the Tokyo based practice Shinichi Ogawa & Associates lives up to its name. The construction of the ‘Minimalist House’ is based on a strict grid of 3 m-modules. The space composition is characterized by the division of the house into two areas, the living room, dining room, and bedroom as one part and kitchen, powder room, and study room in a succession as the other part. These areas are devided by a void of 3m x 18m which is the court for the house.

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'Huts' on the facade of Centre Pompidou in Paris by Tadashi Kawamata, photo by Hervé Véronèse, Centre Pompidou, 2010

The Japanese artist Tadashi Kawamata is well known for his architectural installations made from humble, sometimes recycled materials such as cardboard boxes or disused timber. One of his newest creations are wooden huts hanging like wesp’s nests between the beams and pillars of the structural facade of Centre Pompidou in Paris. With their look of improvisation the small parasites build a strong contrast to the highly technical appearing “Refinery” – this is how Parisians call the Renzo Piano and Richard Rogers building from 1977.

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'Skycourt' by Keiji Ashizawa, photo by Takumi Ota

Our Japanese friend and ambitious architect Keiji Ashizawa recently finished this renovation project on a two storeyed single family house in his hometown Tokyo. In order to enlarge the living space the architect added a third floor with a roof tarrace and created a backyard with privacy – a court which bathes the former dark home with soft light and allows its occupants to gaze at the sky.
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'Slybox' drawers by Keiji Ashizawa; photo Yosuke Owashi

Japanese designer Keiji Ashizawa has designed a highly graphic set of drawers, made of oak-veneered plywood, which lays bare its construction.

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'Mountains and Opening House' by EASTERN design office, photo by Koichi Torimura

The Kyoto based architectural practice EASTERN design office recently unveiled this excentric building, a design room for a Japanese sneaker brand as well as a residential house, located in Takarazuka-city in an exclusive residential district that commands an entire view of the Osaka Plain. The architecture is built on the slope of a hill with an elevation of 330 meters. The level difference of the site is 8 meters.

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'Bench between pillars' by Ryuji Nakamura Architects

The Tokyo based practice Ryuji Nakamura Architects realised this minimal seating area for the Ikebukuro Seibu Department Stores. A wide ribbon made from vinyl sheet is – like a hammock – regularly suspended from the ceiling.

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Triennale in Kanazawa, photo by Daici Ano

This exhibition design characterised by five pre-fabricated agricultural greenhouses was designed by the Tokyo based designers of Nendo – each house is dedicated to one of the five curators. The temporary exhibition venue, a remaining space left over from a large bookstore, and a limited budget necessitated to leave the empty retail space more or less intact, without placing drastic changes to the leftover interior.

Triennale in Kanazawa, photo by Daici Ano

Here is what the designers explain:

“The lighting used to highlight the works inside would softly pour from the translucent plastic walls, and their gentle glow turned the greenhouses into large lanterns of light. Moreover, winding ”trails” of black stapled carpets ran throughout the exhibition venue, with white vinyl panels for displaying the works positioned alongside there “trails”. While keeping costs low, we were thus able to create the semblance of “farmland” that partitioned the area where people would walk and where the works would be displayed. This form of expression was in fact an expanded version of the “home-use greenhouse” that we had used at our pre-event venue held half a year earlier, and we found that this environment was most suitable for expressing the development and growth of crafts in the unique “soils” of Kanazawa.”

Triennale in Kanazawa, photo by Daici Ano

Triennale in Kanazawa, photo by Daici Ano

Triennale in Kanazawa, photo by Daici Ano

more Nendo products @ Architonic

to the Triennale of Kogei website

'The Mirror of Truth' by Hironao Tsuboi

Conventional mirrors reflect a ‘virtual’ image of matters, they show an inverted projection of reality. However ‘The Mirror of Truth’ the most recent poetic work by the Tokyo based designer Hironao Tsuboi is made from prismatic stainless steel and renders the unadorned realness – 1:1.

'The Mirror of Truth' by Hironao Tsuboi

With this work Hironao Tsuboi joined the project for the next-generation design ‘Earth Lounge vol.7 – Design × Science Meeting’ which took place at National Museum of Emerging Science of Innovation in Tokyo.

'The Mirror of Truth' by Hironao Tsuboi

'The Mirror of Truth' by Hironao Tsuboi

to the Hironao Tsuboi website

‘Sun’ by Hironao Tsuboi Design at Designtide Tokyo

24 ISSEY MIYAKE shop by Nendo, photo by Daici Ano

Nendo designed the new shop including this beautiful and minimal display system for clothes and accessories for the Japanese fashion label ISSEY MIYAKE at Shibuya Parco in Tokyo.

24 ISSEY MIYAKE shop by Nendo, photo by Daici Ano

Here is what the designers say:

“The Miyake team wanted a new design concept for the 24 Issey Miyake shop in Shibuya’s Parco shopping complex, which includes a store that specially features Miyake’s new Bilbao bag.
The Bilbao bag has no set form. Instead, it settles depending on how it is placed. To match the bag, we abandoned the standard hard, flat and smooth fixtures found in most shops, and created a set of variable-height fixtures made of thin steel rods that stand like a field of prairie grass in the shop, with a similar vague, undefined shape like the bag.
Shelving and hanger rods are also made of steel rods, in the 7 mm diametre common to all of the 24 Issey Miyake shop interiors. Supported by ‘points’, rather than by surfaces or lines, the bags seem to waft in the air like flowers in a light breeze,  creating the illusion of a field of flowers in the store.”

24 ISSEY MIYAKE shop by Nendo, photo by Daici Ano

more Nendo products @ Architonic

'Seasons' flexible dinnerware by Nao Tamura

The one thing that’s clear in all the debate about sustainability and design is that, beyond the considered use of materials and thoughtfulness about energy consumption in production, a product must invite the user to form a long-term relationship with it. In short, it should be kept forever. ‘Seasons’, a flexible, durable serving dish, designed by New York-based Nao Tamura and shown at this year’s Milan SaloneSatellite, has a very good chance of being one of these life-long companions.

Made of silicone, 'Seasons' can be rolled up for storage

The inspiration for ‘Seasons’ is drawn from, among other sources, cherry leaves, which are used in Japan during the spring to wrap sweets. Made of silicone, the product can be rolled up for storage, and, importantly, be used in the oven and microwave. It’s also dishwasher-safe. What makes the leaves even more poetic is that each has its own individual shape. Design imitating nature.

'Seasons' by Nao Tamura

to Nao Tamura’s website