Page 107 - AIT0620_E-Paper

Entwurf • Design Claesson Koivisto Rune, SE-Stockholm
Illustration eines Hotelzimmers • Illustration of a hotel room
Grundriss 2. Obergeschoss • Floor plan level +2
Grundriss 4. Obergeschoss • Floor plan level +4
Bauherr • Client Ferment Inc., Japan
Standort • Location Chou-Ku, JP-Tokio
Nutzfläche • Floor space 2.000 m 2
Fotos • Photos Yikin Hyo, JP-Tokio
Mehr Infos auf Seite • More information on page 126
K5 HOTEL
IN TOKYO
Swedish minimalism meets traditional Japanese design
— a long-standing friendship with the Tokyo-based de-
sign entrepreneur Teruo Kurosaki was the basis for the
architecture firm Claesson Koivisto Rune to transform
the office premises of a former bank into a hotel. Using
delicate fabrics, an ambiguous, vague atmosphere was
created — analogous to the Japanese term Aimai.
T he Kabutcho district in Tokyo was the birthplace of Japan's mo-
dern financial industry. Once known as the country's Wall Street,
the district began to gradually wither away in 2018. As a result, ways
were sought to turn the district into an attractive location for the re-
staurant industry and retail businesses, as well as for aspiring start-
up companies. The Swedish architecture firm Claesson Koivisto Rune
was commissioned to convert one of the former bank buildings in the
immediate vicinity of the Tokyo Stock Exchange. In just 14 months, the
building, which was completed in 1923, was transformed into a hotel
with 20 rooms, a loft suite and public areas such as a restaurant,
lounge, wine and beer bar. Instead of strict specifications as to what
the hotel rooms should look like, the architects were briefed to cha-
racterise the demeanour of a well-dressed, discerning pensioner who
always has a smile on his lips. The result was a design that can be
described with the Japanese term Aimai, which can be translated as
ambiguous or vague. In contrast to other cultures, the term has a po-
sitive connotation in Japanese and is often used in a poetic sense. It
signifies the advantages of blurring boundaries and is based on the
desire for harmony. The furniture, designed especially by Claesson
Koivisto Rune for the project, therefore refrains from a strict spatial di-
vision of function. The centrepiece of each hotel room is a bed with
integrated shelf and a desk at the back. The sleeping arrangements
are gently enveloped by an indigo-coloured translucent curtain that is
suspended from the high ceiling. The other pieces of furniture, like the
bed, are placed in the room as freestanding units without any connec-
tion to the wall — somewhat vague! Throughout the hotel, the material
concept is based on concrete and cedar wood in combination with Ja-
panese stucco and other natural materials. Former characteristics of
the bank building could be partly restored, for example the original
parquet flooring on the ground floor, which, among other things, ac-
commodates the hotel's public areas including a restaurant, lounge,
wine and beer bar.
AIT 6.2020 • 107