Invisible renovation
I was asked to design "a design studio that can also be used as a gallery". In other words, it may be called "a gallery that can also be used as a design studio." I found it interesting that it was not "a design studio with a gallery". Since different functions overlap, it is not possible to make each room and design it to suit each room, like so-called LDK housing. One room in the 45 years old reinforced concrete building where is in relatively quiet place between Omotesando and Takeshita Dori was renovated. The room is on the first floor, slightly above the ground, facing two roads east and west. The walls and ceiling were painted in white rather than wallpaper, and several marks of removals of the former partition walls were left wildly. On the other hand, the floor was made frivolously with the vinyl sheet with wood grain printed on it, that is why they created a strange space. There are seven windows, large and small, and translucent wired glasses were fitted into the silver aluminum frames. There was one specific request. It is to divide the currently one-room into two rooms by a transparent and sound insulation movable partition. Also it was necessary to consider and decide on site with the owner while proceeding with dismantling because the moving was coming up soon. Unlike the usual design, it is an ad hoc design in which irreversible decisions are piled up on the spot, but it can also be said to be a design based on observation and actual feeling on site. We started by removing the vinyl floor that would be unsuitable for studios and galleries. The old unexpectedly bumpy skeleton with unused pipes popping up in some places appeared, but the feeling of directly touching the building and the feeling of accumulated time were rather comfortable and I thought that it would have a good influence on the exhibition. So we decided to use it with as little modification as possible without rebuilding the floor again. Next, when we were standing on the bumpy floor, we felt as if we were outside, but we were suddenly worried about feeling of blockage of the translucent wired glass, so we replaced all the translucent wired glass to transparent wired glass although it costs extra. The room became quite open, and it was almost as if it were thrown out on the street, probably because it was on the first floor. The old aluminum window whose frame is too delicate for its size cut out the scenery of the street clearly and made the out side closer to the inside. Just then, I came up with the idea of using an aluminum sash for the partition that I had been racking my brain about. It is sound-insulating, inexpensive, and above all, no new elements need to be added here. We chose a frame and glass that resembled the windows of this room as much as possible, and attached them as if they were originally windows, paying attention to their position and fitting. Two rooms are produced, and the room on the other side, which can be seen through the aluminum sash, is felt become more like added balconies or terraces, rather than separated rooms. The instant act of dividing one room into two, which was initially difficult to accept, was transformed into something else and does not rise to my consciousness any longer. Lastly, the wall and ceiling were repainted, but we decided to leave the removal marks of the walls, including the removal marks of the floor of this time, to be able to feel the accumulation of time. The room after the renovation looks like a room before a renovation. It also does not look like a studio and a gallery. It takes a certain amount of creativity to master this space, so I'm really looking forward to seeing how it will be used in the future.
Title Studio and Gallery
Completion 27 September 2019
Use Studio, Gallery
Site Jingumae Shibuya-ku Tokyo Japan
Floor area 70.25 m2
Client &Form
Design Ryuji Nakamura and Associates
Construction Ichiyoshi Kensetsu
Photography Hidetaka Oohata |