Amazing Light-Filled Glass Studio In Japan
Posted By Bridgette Meinhold On June 30, 2010 @ 12:45 pm In Architecture,Daylighting | 8 Comments
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Core77 [5] points us to this stunning crystalline building [6] that serves as a flexible studio and workplace for students at the Kanagawa Institute of Technology [7]. Designed by Tokyo-based architecture firm Junya Ishigami and Associates [8], the glass studio has a large open floor plan topped with a roof supported by columns of various sizes. Thanks to the building’s floor-to-ceiling glass facade and strips of skylights on the roof the daylighting [9] in this space is superb, creating a spectacular place to work on design projects.
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The building’s goal was to create a place where students could come to work on self-initiated projects and build things, but as students move in and out and projects change, so does the space required. So Ishigami and his team designed a building with a flexible and open layout [11] supported by 305 pillars, which seem randomly placed — but they actually spent quite some time analyzing the location and diameter of each pillar to create spaces of varying size. The pillars create a vague sense of borders and partitions but are not so restrictive that they limit the space.
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Covering the building entirely in glass with skylights above offers unbeatable daylighting — to the point where it almost seems that people are working outside during the day. At night, when the lights are on, the glass building shines like a diamond. The strange thing is that glass buildings are not very common in earthquake-prone Japan. In fact, Ishigami specifically did not design any earthquake-resistant walls [13], which seems unpractical and completely unsustainable. While we love the design of the building and the flood of natural daylight [14] it provides, we’d hate to see it end up as shards of glass when the next big earthquake hits Tokyo.
+ Junya Ishigami and Associates [8],
Via Core77 [5]
Photo Credits: ©Iwan Baan [15]
Article printed from Inhabitat – Sustainable Design Innovation, Eco Architecture, Green Building: http://inhabitat.com
URL to article: http://inhabitat.com/amazing-light-filled-glass-studio-in-japan/
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[3] Email: mailto:?subject=http://inhabitat.com/amazing-light-filled-glass-studio-in-japan/
[4] Image: http://inhabitat.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/1/files/2010/06/glassstudio-ed02.jpg
[5] Core77: http://www.core77.com/blog/object_culture/earthquakes_be_damned_japanese_tech_schools_modernist_crystal_palace_for_students_16839.asp
[6] crystalline building: http://inhabitat.com/2010/05/11/european-investment-bank-wins-international-green-architecture-award/
[7] Kanagawa Institute of Technology: http://www.kait.jp/english/
[8] Junya Ishigami and Associates: http://www.jnyi.jp/
[9] daylighting: http://inhabitat.com../daylighting
[10] Image: http://inhabitat.com/2010/06/30/amazing-light-filled-glass-studio-in-japan/kanagawa-institute-of-technology-8/
[11] flexible and open layout: http://inhabitat.com/2009/01/21/cambridge-creative-exchange-by-5th-studio/
[12] Image: http://inhabitat.com/2010/06/30/amazing-light-filled-glass-studio-in-japan/kanagawa-institute-of-technology-6/
[13] earthquake-resistant walls: http://inhabitat.com/2010/03/01/how-building-codes-saved-lives-during-chiles-earthquake/
[14] flood of natural daylight: http://inhabitat.com/2010/06/28/stunning-zero-plus-energy-lab-at-hawaii-preparatory-academy/
[15] ©Iwan Baan: http://www.cretique.com/archives/9577
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