REFLECTION OF MINERAL
The site is located near the center of Tokyo. It is a small plot of 44.62㎡bounded by two
streets. Conforming to legal conditions and in response to the client’s wish for a ‘roofed
garage’ the volume was trimmed from various directions. ‘Minerals’ and ‘reflection’ are
keywords that help turn the negative factor of elimination into a positive one.
‘Minerals’ are considered to combine abstract properties (conceptual object) with
nonfigurative properties (object whose presence of matter is more obvious). Changes
from transparent, translucent to opaque occur according to light entering in certain
ways at certain angles. The body can in no way be treated as a simple element.
‘Reflection’ is a recent keyword pertaining to the perception of space. Vision is an
important factor in the recognition of space. My interest lies in such area of visual
perception. By shaping volumes in polyhedra (facets with three factors―transparent,
translucent and opaque) and entangling them in three-dimensional way inside the
internal space, visual reflection is induced, which results in deviation from the
restrictiveness of space.
Then as people move inside the space or with light entering at a certain angle the
facet’s presence changes, bringing about diversity in space. Inside the polyhedron
equipped with such abstractiveness are the kitchen, counter shelf, stairs, floors and
toilet box equipped with functionality that exist as nonfigurative objects.
The bathroom box on third floor features a mirror finish in stainless steel, which
combines both factors of object and reflection, and presents itself as a substitution of
both ‘minerals’ and ‘reflection’.
Relationship with the surrounding environment is expressed in the small plaza
open to the streets, a piloti-like space that emerged after placing the garage on ground
floor. Its liberating feeling might trigger some change in the surrounding streetscape.
