The office building in the backstreets of the Omotesando|Thin metal louvers undulate like soft fabric|The client wanted the building to stand out from the other buildings in the backstreet|The nearby area is renowned for its architecture with buildings by Herzog & de Meuron, Tadao Ando and Jun Aoki|A series of white fluorescent tubes randomly arranged on the ceiling add character to the space|The open-plan interiors feature a pared-back design with white walls, polished concrete floors and pale wooden doors|The existing 25-year-old structure ©Google Maps||
Japanese design group Amano has followed up Dear Ginza, a nine-storey commercial block with a faceted aluminium facade resembling a crumpled sweet rapper, with Dear Jingumae, which is smaller scale but has an equally dramatic facade.
Amano design office has revamped an office building in the backstreets of the Omotesando. The area of Tokyo is renowned for its architecture with buildings on the main shopping parades by Herzog & de Meuron, Tadao Ando and Jun Aoki.
The client wanted to replace the façade of the 25-year-old office block so it would stand out from the surrounding buildings, revive the “stagnant” neighbourhood, and draw in future tenants. Amano stripped the building back to its core structure and added computer-designed thin metal louvers that undulate giving the impression of a soft fabric.
“We aimed at a design with a soft expression that would be favourably accepted by passers by, while standing out from the surrounding buildings that tend to have physically hard expressions,” said Amano.
The open-plan interiors feature a pared-back design with white walls, polished concrete floors and pale wooden doors. A series of white fluorescent tubes randomly arranged on the ceiling add character to the space.
A new stairwell has been added to the exterior, giving access to the first floor of the building and continuing up to the floors above.
Subsequent to completion in March this year, the client has maintained a significant rate of return from tenants of the building.
Amano also recently completed the Dear Ginza office in Tokyo, which has a multi-faceted façade of perforated aluminium panels akin to the aesthetic of crumpled paper.
