Satoshi Kurosaki founded Apollo Architects & Associates in Tokyo, Japan, in the year 2000 with the vision of spawning ‘a rich spirituality’ within a space while keeping it impervious and utilitarian. APOLLO is an architecture studio that draws on professional experience in product development in a large residential company. APOLLO has offices in Tokyo, Okinawa, Korea, and China, and its primary projects include residential villas, resorts, clinics, and commercial buildings. Kurosaki is a well-known architect who has designed over 150 buildings in Japan over 16 years. In 2016, he also released a full-colour 600-page APOLLO’s Monograph (Germany). The firm, named after Apollo, the God of the Sun and Light in Greco-Roman mythology, aspires to go beyond the basic demands of design by adding simple components of light and shadow in enhanced yet functional situations while not interfering with the flow of time so that users can connect to the spaces and enjoy everything to their hearts’ content.
Practice Ideology
Architecture must be safe, functional, and visually appealing, but more is needed. Above all, the firm believes that architects’ spaces must communicate the deep spirituality that clients and society expect. The space created by humans, nature, and all kinds of man-made items evolves with time while remaining connected to society and the environment, and people change in reaction. Coexistence with such varying life forms is a vital part of the architecture, and it is a significant factor that affects the design, such as how to channel wires in design, how to handle light, how to guide wind and the manner of material selection.
Design Speciality
- City’s architecture, interior design and landscaping, design of plans, supervision & branding
- Design of furniture and product, productions and sales
- Graphic designs
- Writing research and blogs about cities, and their architecture; providing lectures and information services; holding events and publications.
- Site analysis, conferences, and real estate marketing
- Serve as a contractor for ground surveys, acreage surveys, and building demolitions
Project: Timeless Residence
This house was built for a couple who had lived on the land for a long time but wanted to rebuild as they started a new period of life after their three children left home. The basic exterior design, consisting of two large volumes heaped on each other, uses the corner lot, with an exposed concrete façade etched with cedar formwork. To maintain privacy and security, outward-facing windows are confined to horizontal slits.
The inside of the home is defined by two parallel courtyards, one huge and one little. The main courtyard is on the south side and has a bamboo grove that grabs the attention as one enters. Because the living room, study, and bedrooms all face the courtyard, the clients and their dogs may spend as much time outside as they want. A smaller slit-shaped courtyard on the north side is similarly planted and functions as a light well, bringing nice, diffuse light into the first-floor living room and foyer and a second living room upstairs.
Deep eaves above the south-facing upstairs windows prevent direct sunshine, resulting in the first-floor living area’s sombre, formal feel. The upper living area, on the other hand, is more casual and has an adjoining roof balcony, offering the second floor a different vibe. This allows the residents to walk throughout the house during the day, spending quality time where they feel most at ease.
Project: Calm House
This home project in Obu, Aichi prefecture, also acts as a gallery space for the client’s contemporary art collection. This structure combines reinforced concrete and glazing on the first-floor level and wooden boxes arranged on two-floor levels and placed at the podium. As you progress up the levels, the floor area grows larger. The building’s proportions create a distinct character with a sense of floating in the area, with the box on the first-floor level in the glass and the other boxes for the second and third-floor levels in galvanised steel siding, indicating a different hue from the first level.
The second-floor level is cantilevered to accommodate a pilotis-style garage area for two cars on the first-floor level. The 1st-floor podium is totally glass on the street side, offering a good view of the gallery. The gallery space’s floor level is reduced to create a semi-underground sunken, magnetic room. In contrast, a concrete divider supplied inside the space limits direct natural light, allowing viewers to the gallery to view art objects through reflected light on the ceiling.
A staircase is given for accessing the dwelling part’s entrance. The 2nd-floor level, with gathering private spaces and a water section, has direct access, as does the 3rd-floor level, with a family room. The daylight from the top light above the staircases and balcony illuminates such rooms, giving a calm ambience.
Citations
- https://www.designboom.com/architecture/calm-house-by-apollo-architects-embodies-japanese-hospitality-12-09-2013/
- https://www.dezeen.com/2013/12/09/concrete-calm-house-apollo-architects-exchange-students/
- https://apollo-aa.jp/works/gaze/
- https://design-milk.com/gaze-apollo-architects-associates/
- https://www.dezeen.com/2016/03/29/gaze-house-japan-aichi-prefecture-art-gallery-apollo-architects-associates/
- https://apollo-aa.jp/
- https://www.dezeen.com/2022/03/15/apollo-architects-associates-tokyo-house-hidden-courtyards/
