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Okurayama House by Kiyonobu Nakagame Architects

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Another private residence in Hyogo, Japan is the recently completed Okurayama House by Kiyonobu Nakagame Architects.

This home was also built on an irregular hilly site but the similarities end there. In this instance the overall design was informed by the surrounding neighborhood, which included cherry-lined streets to the North and South, as well as low-rise housing in both directions.

Supported by 2 steel columns, the structure is defined by a carved out entryway that acts as almost an extension of the road passing in front. The entryway gently guides you inside, where you are greeted by a bowl-shaped hall that radiates outwards into its surround spaces.

Lifted House by Planet Creations

August 11, 2010 / Johnny / Comments Off

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Sekiya Masato of Planet Creations’ latest work is Lifted House IV, a private residence in Hyogo Japan.

The uniqueness of the original site, which was sloped like a horse’s back and surrounded by hills, became the guiding force for the completed design. Emphasis was placed on relationship-building; namely, the dynamic relationship between the land, which appears to close in on you as you approach the site, and the structure itself.

On the ground level is a private study, a guest room and a cloakroom. On the 1st floor is the bedroom, living/dining room, kitchen and bathroom.

I really like how the garage, which connects to the home via outdoor walkway, adds to the presence of the structure. It’s almost a bit intimidating.

Asukadai House by Planet Creations

VIDA Branding by Akihiro Kumagaya

August 9, 2010 / Johnny / Comments Off

Akihiro Kumagaya recently completed a branding campaign for VIDA, a beauty salon. Very clever!

Noto Fusai launches Noto Shop

August 9, 2010 / Johnny / 1 Comment

Two months ago it suddenly became super-easy to get your hands on Noto Fusai’s creative t-shirts. Their new online shop carries all their classics, as well as 2 newbies which were designed to commemorate the launch of their new store, as well as the 5th anniversary of the husband and wife designer-duo team.

“Whisk” is being called the first ever t-shirt to merge art with the kitchen.

“Pen and Art” comes with a pen and a pen-insert. You can even get creative and scribble a little something on it.

Demado House by y+M design office

August 4, 2010 / Johnny / Comments Off

Y+M design office, an architectural firm headquartered in Kobe, recently completed Demado House in Kanagawa, Japan. Demado (meaning bay window) House understandably gets its name from its characteristically protruding windows.

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The structure reminds me a bit of those stress balls that you squeeze in your hand. As you apply pressure, the ball oozes out of the cracks between your fingers creating somewhat random protrusions. The result is certainly entertaining to look at and would be even more entertaining to live in.

You can read my previous post on y+M design office in which I featured Kaidan no ie (Stairs House) back in October 2009. This year Stairs House has been winning all sorts of design and architecture awards left and right.

Book organizers by STAD

August 3, 2010 / Johnny / Comments Off

Architecture office STAD, led by up and coming architect Toru Shimokawa, has some great ideas for organizing books. In the past I’ve seen a lot of ideas for furniture that incorporates book storage (such as the magtable, bibliochaise and bookshelf coffee table). But STAD’s Plywood Table for Books (2010) is perhaps my all-time favorite.

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Not only is it adept in storage but its structure is inherently space-conscious in that it completely collapses. Fantastic!

Massive (2008) is a very simple yet infinitely customizable series of bookend. They come in 3 different sizes and by turning them upside down they can essentially adapt to any number or size of books.

Goodies from Japan

August 2, 2010 / Johnny / Comments Off

As promised, here is a roundup of some of the goodies procured during our latest trip to Tokyo.

Our first stop was Watashi no Heya, a droolworthy shop I have, well, drooled over in the past.

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Next was FrancFranc, where we picked up this adorable coffee maker for 2. It’s come in handy as we try to adjust back to NY-time.

Although we own some, we picked up another pair of pig mugs designed by Kenjiro Sano. Not only do they make great gifts, they are also responsible for one of my favorite quotes: “it’s one of those things that’s not really funny but to Japanese people it’s f*ing hilarious.”

Our last stop was Afternoon Tea, where we picked up some cute ceramics for the kiddies, who are finally graduating from the indestructible IKEA plates. I immediately fell in love with the egg (tamago) pasta plates, as well as those cereal bowls.

Pictured above is the London motif but we also picked up the NY version.

How we managed to carry all this back without breaking anything is still a mystery to me.

M&M Rosie by ARTechnic

July 30, 2010 / Johnny / Comments Off

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It’s been over a year since Kotaro Ide and his architectural firm ARTechnic wowed the community with their 2008 work Shell. The holiday villa in Karuizawa, Japan, characterized by two concrete tubes with oval sections, understandably went on to win several design awards.

We hadn’t seen any new work from the group until now. M&M Rosie, while not quite as unique and defined as their previous work, is nonetheless stunning in its geometric form. It stands as a private residence in Setagaya, Tokyo.

M&M Rosie by ARTechnic

It’s been over a year since Kotaro Ide and his architectural firm ARTechnic wowed the community with their 2008 work Shell.The holiday villa in Karuizawa, Japan, characterized by two concrete tubes with oval sections, went on to win several design awards.

http://www.artechnic.jp/

http://www.archdaily.com/11602/shell-artechnic-architects/

The August 2010 issue of Wallpaper | paper cut-out house by Ryuji Nakamura

July 29, 2010 / Johnny / 1 Comment

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If you happen to have your hands on the August 2010 issue of Wallpaper, there is a special present inside for you – a totally modernist paper cut-out house by one of our favorite architects, Ryuji Nakamura. Need. Want. Must have.

happy birthday to me!!!

July 29, 2010 / Johnny / 8 Comments

Today my little blog turns 3. I was planning something special but this jet lag really has me in a headlock and I never was able to execute. So it’s just going to have to wait till next year. Instead, I will just keep it simple by saying ‘thank you’ to all the readers, past and present, that have helped shape what Spoon & Tamago is today. You guys are awesome!