Archinect - News

'A home for tea and life': Japanese and Ukrainian influences blend harmoniously in this Kyoto house renovation

2023-09-25T12:25:00-04:00

Ukraine-based MAKHNO Studio has completed work on a residence in Kyoto, Japan inspired by “sado,” a traditional Japanese tea ceremony. The century-old dwelling has been refurbished with attention to its history and the preservation of authentic elements while “adding a drop of Ukrainian color to the Japanese context.”

Image credit: Naoki Miyashita

The experience begins at the house's entrance, marked by a small tea garden named “roji.” Adorned with Japanese ritual stones and Ukrainian DIDO art sculptures from the MAKHNO workshop, the roji garden sets the tone for a tranquil visit, whose “good entities protect the house from sad thoughts and uninvited guests.”

Image credit: Naoki Miyashita

Upon entry through the “genkan,” or entrance hall, guests are greeted by a collection of Japanese and Ukrainian art. The main living area, segmented by a traditional Japanese screen known as “byobu,” serves multiple functions, showcasing art a...

Nintendo is opening a museum in one of its former playing card factories

2021-06-14T17:21:00-04:00

Gaming giant, Nintendo, has announced plans to convert a former factory of theirs in Kyoto into a new museum to showcase the history of the company’s products.

According to a news release, Nintendo has been planning to construct a gallery as a way to share both their product development history and philosophy with the public. Tentatively named Nintendo Gallery, the museum will sit at the site of the Nintendo Uji Ogura Plant and the land surrounding the building. It was originally built in 1969 and was used to manufacture playing cards, later housing a customer service center for product repairs. The factory, however, has sat unused since 2016 after the opening of a newer facility.

Along with historical products, the museum will feature exhibits and experiences. The Nintendo Gallery is expected to be completed by March 2024.

Previously on Archinect: Super Nintendo World theme park opening now scheduled for February 4

This comes after the opening of the new $580 million Super Ninten...

Kengo Kuma-designed Ace Hotel Kyoto will open this spring

2020-01-28T14:14:00-05:00

Ace Hotel Kyoto is getting ready to welcome its first guests, and just in time for the high-travel season for the Tokyo Olympic Games this summer. The boutique hotel chain collaborated with Kengo Kuma and Commune Design for the 213-room hotel, which is part new-build and part historic structure that formerly housed the Kyoto Central Telephone Company, which was originally designed by iconic modern architect Tetsuro Yoshida in the 1920s. First announced in 2018, Ace Hotel Kyoto marks the company's first location in Asia.

Guest room seating area. Photo: Stephen Kent Johnson.

Photo: Stephen Kent Johnson.

Inspired by the ancient capital's abundance of nature, art, attention to craft, and profound history, the hotel will feature a lobby, multiple garden courtyards, a gallery, event spaces, collaborations with local artists, a cafe, and three standalone restaurants. Kengo Kuma updated the historic building with a wooden grid system and louvers and meshes that gently filter in natural light ...

Ace Hotel will open its first Japanese location with a Kengo Kuma design

2018-04-09T14:13:00-04:00

The boutique hospitality chain, Ace Hotel has announced it will open its first-ever Japanese outpost next year with a Kengo Kuma designed building in Kyoto. According to the company's president, Brad Wilson, "it’s been [a] long-standing dream to put down roots in Japan." "We feel incredibly humbled and grateful to...make our dreams a reality, creating a space that honors the beauty and history of Kyoto while fostering global connection and cultural innovation" he said.

Known for taking over cool spaces, the hipster hotel chain will be moving into Tetsuro Yoshida’s 1920 Kyoto Central Telephone Officebuilding. Kuma, who is also responsible for Tokyo’s impending Olympic Stadium, will give the building a modern update with a wooden grid system and fine louvers and meshes that gently filter light and wind. The scheme will also feature various gardens which have existed since the Heian period.

According to the hotel, the surrounding neighborhood sits on the former grounds of the imperial ...

Blending Japanese traditional and modern architecture, this Kyoto guest house is a quiet stunner

2018-03-02T19:14:00-05:00

Tucked away in the dense network of narrow streets in Kyoto's central Gojo Karasuma district, an old house has come back to life and—after a thorough, yet thoughtful, makeover—enjoys now a refreshed existence as a boutique guest house for tourists visiting the area.

In charge of the redesign was B.L.U.E. Architecture Studio, a young Japanese practice founded in 2014 by Yoko Fujii and Shuhei Aoyama in Beijing. An emphasis on structure, materiality, and light can be traced throughout B.L.U.E.'s work, primarily in Beijing, Shanghai, Chongqing, and increasingly in other Chinese cities.

Project description from the architects: "Located at Gojo Karasuma, Kyoto, the original house has more than 100 years history. It is a traditional timber-structure house in typical form of Kyoto house, and the main skeleton remains in good condition except for some random later rebuilt. The owner intended to transform it into a unique boutique homestay."

"T...

Turning Japan's golfing greens into solar farms

2015-07-22T13:10:00-04:00

Japan has been hungry for alternative energy ever since the 2011 Fukushima disaster made nuclear power an unattractive option in the country, and golf courses just happen to be perfectly suited for solar power — they're large open spaces that often get lots of sunlight. Kyocera's first project, now under construction, is a 23 megawatt solar plant on a golf course in Kyoto prefecture. When it goes live in 2017, the plant will produce enough power for about 8,100 households.

Nine hours in a capsule: sleeping in a sci-fi hotel that wants you to leave

2013-11-11T12:31:00-05:00

The hotel's name refers to the idea that you'd only need to spend nine hours there — a radical concept in a world of lodging that offers a host of amenities to tempt you away from the place you're actually meant to be visiting. But the people behind Nine Hours believe you're better off spending as little time as possible under their roof: just one hour to get ready for bed, seven hours to sleep, and one hour to get up in the morning.

Historical homes that helped influence modernism

2012-11-28T12:28:00-05:00

Separated by about four centuries and the Pacific Ocean this pair of houses may seem on paper to have little in common. One was an imperial villa in Kyoto, the other a suburban villa in West Hollywood. One is built on Zen principles for the Japanese emperor, the other was built by a central European architect for himself.

Edwin Heathcote discusses the historical relevance of Rudolph Schindler's Schindler House and Kyoto's Katsura Imperial Villa, and how they helpef influence the modern movement.