CONDO RENOVATION WITH THE ART OF KUMIKO WOODWORK
This project is a renovation in the low-rise condominium in central Tokyo. In the existing residential area in Tokyo, we have rare opportunities to meet the land for sale, which match to build the luxurious house.
Studio Name: IKDS
Design Team: IKDS
Area: 230squaremeter
Year: 2020
Location: Tokyo, Japan
Photography Credits: Kenichi Suzuki, IKDS
The client gave up searching the land for their home, purchased the newly built condominium, and started the renovation project to create the perfect interiors which suit their lifestyle.
In Tokyo, especially in the low-rise residential area, tightly spaced buildings. The situation is the same in the wealthy residential neighborhood. We can assume the courthouse style when the site is relatively large, closing the outer side. But in most cases, we cannot adopt the way. As a result, people draw the curtains of the windows facing the nearby houses all day long. The theme of our design was to provide a space of comfort and beauty where they can enjoy the view of both their trees and the sky without the sights of neighboring buildings.
Our aim was to create a design style matching the client’s aesthetic sense for their home in perfect harmony with the client’s furnishings, paintings, and an assembly tea room. We focused on the modern Japanese style, introducing both traditional Japanese motifs and modern technology in the woodworks. The design of the whole condo is coordinated in totality.
We introduced Kumiko woodwork with the custom-made pattern screens in the living room. By layering the art of Kumiko woodwork and sheer roman shade, we designed the beautiful composition in the perfect view control. Those fixtures enable enjoying the view of both their trees and the sky without sights of neighboring buildings.
Kumiko is traditional Japanese woodwork, a delicate and sophisticated technique for assembling wooden pieces without nails. Recently, we added another renovation on the ceiling design. We introduced wood texture, arranging Kumiko figure pattern, Matsuba-tsunagi, into the original grid design, which conjures the image of Japanese luxurious coffered ceilings. In this part, we utilized a computational design tool to create a modern grid with the traditional pattern. The assignment of the wood lumber is not in equal allocation. The allocation of the grid decreases size from the central part to the edge, which emphasizes the perspective effect. The central part of the rhombus-shaped luminous ceiling is the lighting equipment using semitranslucent fabric and small led lighting fixtures.
The bedroom was also designed with the modern Japanese style. We chose the covering product weaved within the paulownia wood strip for the ceiling. All design around the bed was coordinated in totality based on the coloring of the covering. The materials such as the finishing of the furniture, fixture, cushioned wall, and window shades were selected carefully
Meanwhile, we incorporated classical design for the client’s study room, respecting the precious experience on spatial and working style in a period spent in a foreign country. There is a small garden beside the large window in this room, and the neighboring houses face the garden. We introduced wooden sliding doors, which have a function of shuttered windows, to control the exterior view in harmony with the classical atmosphere.
