yagyug douguten turns a former auto repair shop into a café with many doors in rural japan

yagyug douguten transforms a former auto repair shop into a café with gallery space in the mountains of nara, japan. the client wanted to have his advertising company on the second floor while making the first floor a place to exhibit artwork and design pieces. in response, the architect looked at the name of the company, ‘INtoOUT’, and associated it with a series of notions; ‘inside and outside’, ‘appearance and content’, ‘entrance and exit’, and ‘past and the future’.

images by nishioka kiyoshi

to the architect, what exists between ‘in and out’ are doors and windows so he explored ways to produce various experiences and functionalities by operating them. doors and windows are the physical elements that allow air and people to go in and out, and at the same time, they are a breakpoint in our awareness as well as a link between surrounding scenery and individuals. they act as ‘gates’ in symbolic gestures, allowing us to feel and experience a new world and a new sense of value.

steel-piped columns and walls are installed under the eaves to secure a spacious interior for the café. the height of the exterior wall is kept low, so the glass windows installed in it frame the scenery of trees on the mountain across the café. tables at the small windows are mobile and can be moved inside and outside. sunlight shines into the indoor seating area during the day, becoming the main lighting source, while interior lighting illuminates the outdoor area in the evening.

at the center of the café, pivoting doors rotate around steel-pipe columns, dividing the space in several ways and producing variations in volumes and margins within the area. fumitaka suzuki, founder of yagyug douguten, wants the visitors to find their whereabouts by rotating these doors and discovering new spaces. the small windows are inspired by car windows, while the scale of the rotating door leafs is based on the silhouette of a car. cars and agricultural vehicles used to come and go for inspection and repair works when this place was an auto repair shop — such memory is reflected in the new space as an afterimage.

custom stools in the café are either solid or closed, but both stick to the same size. the two variations represent paring notions of ‘inside and outside’, ‘existing and not existing’, and ‘in and out’. 

the former office space of the auto repair shop is transformed into a gallery for holding exhibitions and selling various goods. the display space can also be altered by the opening and closing of doors. the door leafs themselves can be used as display settings, inviting people to cross over the threshold and walk around. the remnants of the former auto repair shop, such as defects and rust, are kept as much as possible. these traces are highlighted further by installing new elements, rather than concealing and covering them up so that the past is not negated and can inherit the history and stories of this place for the future.

visitors from large cities can fully appreciate the breadth of space and scenery unique to the rural region, while local residents can also experience the joy and pleasure of design. fumitaka suzuki believes that what links doors and windows is the notion of ‘inside and outside’, ‘past and current’, ‘rural village and design’, and ‘people and things’. the architect sought to create a space where people can become aware of the interplay of these notions.

designboom has received this project from our ‘DIY submissions‘ feature, where we welcome our readers to submit their own work for publication. see more project submissions from our readers here.