office of ryue nishizawa studio visit

'office of ryue nishizawa' in tokyo, japan
image courtesy office of ryue nishizawa


while the designboom team was in tokyo, we visited the office of ryue nishizawa,
one half of the pritzker prize-winning practice, SANAA. located in a gutted out
warehouse in the tatsumi area of the capital city, the building houses both SANAA
and nishizawa's studios under one roof. the no bells-and-whistles space is essentially
one linear stretch of work stations, partitioned only by free-standing shelving
which are filled with books and publications.

the open layout of the work space facilitates and encourages easy communication.
towards the back of the studio is a corner for model making and a small meeting area.
fronted by large sliding glass doors, the interior benefits from natural daylighting.
a floating deck off the back leads out straight on to the tokyo bay,
offering an escape from the urban mass of the city.


a collection of ryue nishizawa's previous and recent projects:

'moriyama house'
a cluster of ten small buildings, the design divides one volume into a collection
of independent units connected only by a garden way. the owner has great freedom
with the house, living in one and renting the rest which results in a small community
in the middle of tokyo.



model of 'moriyama house' at the 2010 venice architecture biennale
to see more images of the project and the japanese pavilion, click here
image © designboom



exterior of 'moriyama house' (2005) in tokyo, japan
image © turezure


garden space
image © turezure


'teshima art museum'
hugging a hilly site on the island of teshima, the museum resembles a droplet of water
caught in the middle of gliding across the land. two large elliptical openings define
and orient the space while letting the interior collect pieces of the elements:
pools of water accumulate on the floor and freely shift and migrate according
to the breeze's direction.



the 'teshima art museum' (2010) by ryue nishizawa in collaboration with japanese artist rei naito
image © iwan baan



interior of the museum
click here for more images of the project



the firm's newest publication
image © designboom


'house a'
located on a narrow site, the client had requested a design that would allow
for entertaining guests. aiming to create spaces that generated a social atmosphere,
each room retains the character of a living room. distributed along the site as blocks,
the volumes are shifted to establish a fragmented edge, allowing natural light to
enter each space.



'house a' (2010) in tokyo, japan
image courtesy office of ryue nishizawa



interior view
image courtesy office of ryue nishizawa



image courtesy office of ryue nishizawa



exterior views
images courtesy office of ryue nishizawa


'towada art center'
comprised of an arrangement of open faced white volumes, the design is
the centerpiece of the towada arts project, an initiative to convert the city's
main road into a dynamic space for art and culture.



'towada art center' (2008) by ryue nishizawa in towada city, aomori prefecture
image © turezure



exterior faces of the center
image © turezure



back of the office looking out on to the tokyo bay
image © designboom



deck space
image © designboom