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toward a soft type for interior landscape – single-line detail / stock plan city

challenge from a small space
Although interior design and furnishing have the image of being dependent on architecture and structure and therefore not free, they are freer than architecture in the sense that they intervene in the space without creating a “envelope”. We had the opportunity to experiment with a small territory, the interior, through 3 projects. The starting point of the idea was to see if it is possible to create an anonymous space that is not just for someone in the here and now, while maintaining the lightness of the interior and its renovation design.

Yet, all 3 projects began with specific requests from specific clients.
《T House》 is an interior design for two tea ceremony lovers. In order to provide sufficient storage space and a tea room in a small area that would otherwise be filled only with living stuff, the space was divided by adding storage furniture that mimics columns and beams to the existing T-shaped beams. The four rooms are generally divided into a study/dining kitchen, living room/tea room, bedroom, and storage/bathroom. 2 tatami mats are used for storage and as the base for the square grid that appears on the floor, walls and ceiling. The green color of the tatami mats is echoed by the green paint on the bottom of the joints, the table tops, the waterproofing on the roof of the building that can be seen outside, and the trees in the schoolyard, making the giant objects fit into the small space.

《Smoke》 is an interior design that functions as a space for single people to live and view art as well as a social space. In response to the request for a large unoccupied space that changes modes depending on the time of day, the floor was repaired in a crisscross pattern to divide the space while maintaining a one-room space of approximately kokonoma (5.4 x 5.4meter). To avoid unnecessary piping and wiring on the floor, walls, and ceiling, square storage furniture is placed around the ceiling side, and piping and equipment are installed. Since the only storage space could not be provided for the mattress, the storage furniture is combined with a chabudai (tea table) to create a floor-sitting space that gives the impression of a larger ceiling height, and a white display wall the same size as the top panel of chabudai is installed on the wall to blend the object into the space.

《Office-Studio》 is an interior design for a digital generalist. In response to the desire to enjoy the scenery outside the window from a neutral space, the existing floor and ceiling were removed, the ceiling height was maximized, and the water area, which required raising the floor, was made compact and concealed with white hardware. The electrical outlets are also concealed by square hardware, and square bookshelves and benches are placed around the windows to capture the scenery.

soft manipulation – single line details
This is how we came to propose a space with a clear form and image based on a specific request. In these 3 projects, we created spaces with furniture and fixtures that are single-lined on the floor plans, without building thick walls in existing similar interiors. In 《T House》, furniture that mimics a column creates a sense of the center of the space, while fixtures that mimic walls create the boundaries between rooms. In 《Smoke》, storage furniture that rotates around the room makes the space recognizable, and details at the corners and the cross-shaped guide lines drawn on the floor emphasize the boundaries between spaces.

These elements, which serve as furniture and fixtures, are made autonomous as anonymous and ambient objects by having more than one function. This superimposition of two or more functions is also thoroughly applied to the space itself.

soft territory – stock plan city
In this way, we have sought an approach to create a solid space in a soft territory with a soft manipulation. While we believe that this approach could become a new type of apartment renovation, we wonder where its social significance lies.

One thing that can be said is that it is possible to create variations of floor plans as stock within the huge concrete frame of an apartment building, which is a repetitive, uniform, and probably static floor plan. One of the advantages of renovating a single room in an apartment, which cannot be achieved in a newly built house, is that it is relatively easy to change one’s place of residence. As life plans change, so do the floor plans required. At that time, there is more potential in having a variety of floor plans in the city and being able to adapt to changes than in having the interior flexibly adapt to changes.

The 3 groups of clients in these projects have completely different family structures and personal preferences. The only thing they seem to have in common is that they are not very conscious of continuing to live in the current property. I now believe that leaving the unique floor plan as a resource for this purpose can contribute to making the lightness of the interior space dwell as a hope for the city and architecture in this age when the city is becoming generic and architecture is becoming banal and brutal.

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