Ten years after the Great East Japan Earthquake, an Obori Soma Ware manufacturer Matsunaga Kiln made a fresh start in a new place.

Matsunaga Kiln was located in Namie Town, Fukushima Prefecture, producing the designated traditional crafts with more than 300 years of history. Nine years after the earthquake, Namie Town was still designated as a ‘difficult-to-return zone’, so the kiln decided to relocate and started this project.

Although situated in the heart of Tokyo, the Yoyogi area retains much of its natural environment. The area is also home to numerous properties belonging to the client who engaged us to design this office building. Combined with the beauty of recurring geometric patterns, these angles capture changes in light in a way that transforms the façade’s appearance according to the season or time of day. To maximize the amount of reflected light captured, the northern face comprises a glass curtain wall with custom-made, ultrathin sashes (45mm) for enhanced transparency. On the south side, we used extruded cement panels and vertical stripes of glass to mitigate direct sunlight, as part of efforts to reduce the building’s environmental impact.

Kyushu Voice is a project for promoting good Kyushu products to Japan and the world to revitalize the local economy and culture of the region. This building is a home base of the project and has three purposes that are as a new symbol of Kyushu’s history and nature, as a popular shop to sell fine and various products made in Kyushu, and as a workshop to develop new items with local producers and citizens.