・ Kanoko, a fawn drinking water, “Kanoko” means a young deer in Japanese
・ Like a collar of a Kimono
・ Like Origami, folding paperwork
・ A huge thumb pointing to the ground
・ An asymmetricshape
The site is situatedona corner, so you can see two facadesof this building.This is the first buildingthat catchesyouｒeyeswhen you get out of the station. Accordingly, wehave designedthis building not just as a simple cube, but as a funny and interesting form composed by two sides of the façade in order to make people createvariousimages. It is designed sharply, clearly and dynamically.
The name of this place is Sumizome-cho, Fushimi-ku in Kyoto city.
This building has three stories made of a steel structure. The first and the second floor are for tenants, a pharmacy anda nursery school respectively. The third floor is a residential space for the parents of the client.
The north sideof this site facesthe main street of this neighborhood. There is a bridgeeast of the site, whichconnectsthe site and the main shopping street. The railway station is just 5 meters away from here. A small canal runsalong the site. It is named “Kamogawa-Unga,”one of the branchesof the Lake BiwaCanal, which wasconstructed during theMeiji period. This man-made waterway reminds neighbors the history of the development of this area. This is one of “the traces of Kyoto’s dream.” It will be explained below.
Our young client was born in this placeandis working in Tokyo now. His parents ran a vegetable shop, but they felt they were too old to keep it and decided to close it down.Their house for working and livingwas dilapidated, so their son, i.e. our client decided to rebuildit.
The program was very clear. The first and the second floor will bedesigned for shops or retails, and the third floor is a residence for his parents. In the future, he might come back to this place and will have his own office in this building. Our client believes that this town should be changed to a more beautiful place.
When he was looking for an architect, henoticed an interesting building in his neighborhood. It was an apartment house named “Slit Court” designed by our office, the Eastern Design Office.Our office is also along this canal and we are neighbors.The “ Slit Court”builtalongthe main street is just 15-meters west from this “Kanoko House”
This siteisa nice viewpoint seenfrom the stationnear a small canal. From this place we can get a wide view to the main street and the canal. We have suggested several designs and the“asymmetrical form” was the one our client preferred,saying this irregularly shaped design is beautiful.
The first and the second floor for shops face to the canal with aglass facade. The third floor is rather enclosed and we have designed small windows at some points to getthe light and sight. The idea of the entire shape is to cuta part of the north corner diagonallyand make terraces in that area.
We intended to make the volume of the three-story building into one controlleddesign, yet each tenant floor is open to the town to let them interact lively and actively.At the pharmacy on the first floor, moms and kids are able to play ina kids cornerprovided in front ofthe canal. That iswhere the tip of the diagonal cut west facade and the ground meat.
At the nursery school on the second floor, you can see the kids playing. In the evening, lighting of each floor is gently shining and at night, lighting from the small windows rhythmically flourishes.
About the canal “Kamogawa Unga “,“a trace of Kyoto’s dream.”
Before the Meiji era, the capital of Japan had been in Kyoto, but it was transferred to Tokyo as a result of the Meiji Restoration, which consequently lead to the decline of Kyoto. Therefore,people of Kyotodecidedtoconstruct anew Lake Biwa Canal for tapping water,waterways as transportationartery and waterpower that would stimulate new industries to trigger the revitalization of Kyoto. At that time, most of the civil engineering construction was designed and supervised by foreign engineers,but these canalsare the first project that wascarriedout by the Japanese engineers only.There has been a hydroelectric power station 1km southwards from this site. This canal has played a key role as a basic driving power tocontributeto thriving newer industries such as spinning, stretching copper panels, machinery, Tobacco and so on.
Our client named this building “ Kanoko building “ from the image of the fawn/young deerdrinking water next to the bridge over thesmall canal.
