The urban space in the Japanese capital is a coveted asset, which requires extreme densities and buildings that must take advantage of and optimize the building programs that rise above them, as is the case with the nine-apartment building designed by the Japanese studio of Hiroyuki Ito, located in Tokyo, Japan.

The construction also had to respond to the rigorous technical and urban regulations (especially earthquakes), which conditioned the typology used for the homes designed with a double-height loft space, so that the space was perceived as open and spacious as possible.
Hiroyuki Ito designed the apartments with an open structure, optimizing the upper and lower spaces radially thanks to the fact that their connection is made by means of a ladder, which allows the vertical communication space to be reduced to its minimum. The interior finishes leave the walls and slabs in their structural finish of exposed concrete.

Regarding the façade, the composition of the windows is organized differently for each floor, responding to both security and aesthetic factors. The arrangement of windows has been placed in different positions for each floor, responding to the evacuation requirements and maximizing the views towards the surrounding vegetation.

Tsukishima Court by Hiroyuki Ito. Photography by Masao Nishikawa.


Tsukishima Court by Hiroyuki Ito. Photography by Masao Nishikawa.
 

Description of project by Hiroyuki Ito

This project comprises a nine-unit housing complex overlooking an inner-city park. Within the margins of single floor height restrictions, a loft space was created on each floor.

Ordinarily, a loft is made by inserting an elevated area into a room with a high ceiling, as it is thought that such an integrated space is simple means by which to expand.

Conversely, in this project the upper and lower spaces can instead be considered to connect through a hole in the floor. Thus results an ambiguous situation in which the room is composed of a separate and distinct top and bottom, albeit while still constituting a continuous space. This spatial uncertainty is reflected in subtle, rather than contrasting, differences and a mirrored relationship in form generates a novel dimension of expansion and introspection.

On the façade, windows have been arranged in varying positions for each floor, satisfying evacuation requirements and maximising views out onto the surrounding greenery.

More information

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Architects
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Hiroyuki Ito. Architects.- Munenori Shibata, Oliver Pershav.
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Collaborators
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Structural Engineer.- Shu-tada Structural Consultant.
Facility Design.- Tetens Consulting Engineering co.,ltd.
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Builder
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MIURA KOUMUTEN Co.,Ltd.
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Area
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Total area.- 85.71 m².
Building Area.- 65.36 m².
Total Floor Area.- 255.21 m².
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Dates
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August 2020.
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Localización
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Tokio, Japón.
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Photography
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Hiroyuki Ito is a Japanese architect who graduated in architecture from the University of Tokyo in 1993. Two years later he obtained a master's degree in architecture, in the same year he began working at Nikken Sekkei, one of the most important companies in the architectural field in Japan. .In 1999 he founded the architecture studio coined with his name Hiroyuki Ito. From 2003 to 2019 he works as a professor at universities such as Keio University and Ochanomizu University.

He has won many awards since the beginning of his career thanks to the projects he has carried out for more than 20 years. Some of the awards he has won have been AZ awards residential architecture multi-unit, RIBA Awards for International Excellence.
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Published on: May 4, 2023
Cite: "An open house. Tsukishima Court by Hiroyuki Ito" METALOCUS. Accessed
<http://www.metalocus.es/en/news/open-house-tsukishima-court-hiroyuki-ito> ISSN 1139-6415
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