geneto: AZB apartment

azb apartment by geneto all photos by takumi ota courtesy geneto

japanese architects geneto have sent in images of their latest project ‘AZB’ apartment in tokyo.

for this renovation project in a rental apartment block, the architects had many limitations. enclosing only 45m2 floor space and being 40 years old, the structure did not allow us much scope to alter the layout. we were also restricted by the fact that the entire north façade is glass. additionally given the layout of the services, drastic alteration of the bathroom was not possible. these constraints provided us with our point of departure.

the apartment consists only of one bedroom and a multi-use space. the space is enclosed by sliding panels that shift into place to conceal everday objects.

while considering the design of the panels, the architects looked at a traditional japanese architectural application called ‘fusuma’.

‘fusuma’ is the art of decorating room dividing panels with scenes of nature to create the impression that one is living outdoors enveloped in nature. we abstracted this concept and applied it to the dividing panels. the composition of lines draws inspiration from the silhouette of the surrounding mountains and from the city skyline – which has become our new nature.

the carved lines are handles and crevices for coat hangers which would otherwise protrude from the panels and compromise the simplicity of the space.  this use of the fusuma creates a balance between the disparity of function and emotional impact.

panels which depict mountain scenery

detail of cityscape panels