Little shop of 41㎡ in Nagoya city. The site has an elongated shape with a width of about 9m and a depth of 20m. While the front road is relatively wide, with a sidewalk, one might get a feeling of oppression due to the small size of the site surrounded as it by shops and houses of from 2 to 3 stories. The required elements were spaces for parking 2 cars, a space for drying laundry, and a space for the shop.

The building has to stand at the back of the site since the frontage is not of sufficient width to permit a K-turn and the front portion is occupied by the parking area. One can seldom escape from such approaches when the building is a shop with parking spaces. A good example of this would be the convenience store two lots from the site. I was afraid that the shop would disappear in the area because the small area of 41㎡ is too small when compared with the neighboring houses. That is why I started thinking of how to make it an eye catching building for passersby and drivers.

I placed the main space at the most remote part of the site, while the entrance was on the opposite, street-facing side. The building transverses the site in a gentle manner and so residual exterior spaces are created. These residual spaces became a garden, the drying space, and the parking area, and all of them complete the beauty shop as a whole. The shop has the continuous style of a studio apartment and you can see the totality of the interior from the entrance. Yet one is able to see some spaces not visible from the entrance, as you walk into the back, because of the building’s curve.

The shape of the building is something like the volume of the entrance door stretched, and the section at the entrance is only the size of the door. However, the section becomes larger both vertically and horizontally, as one walks into the back, and becomes subtly smaller again at the end. The volume of the curve was determined by a study to maintain the overall balance of the continuous interior space on its very edge. I analyzed the degree of curvature to balance two factors: the ability to see throughout all of the continuous space; and the sequence of gradual changes as one walks in.

At the same time, I tried to create 3 distinctive zones out of one room by changing the density of the openings. The first is the entrance space. With the largest opening on the wall, one can feel the openness and the proximity to the outside regardless of its small space, almost the same size as that of the door. The second is the cutting space in the middle. The light rhythmically streams into the space from the 5 small side windows with a view of the garden. The third is the shampoo space in the back. This space is the one most filled with natural light from the building’s skylight. You can look up at the sky from the shampoo basin. You will be attracted by and would like to walk in when you see the brightest, innermost curving space from the entrance. I am thinking of how I can create something like a new environment by layering the various degrees of light in this gently connected space.

这个白色的弧形建筑是只有一个房间的理发店。入口处宽度只有一扇门的大小，到后段慢慢扩大。并界定出一个非常安逸的院子。

建筑面积只有41平方米，场地宽度是9米乘以20米。虽然面临较宽的道路，但是周边的环境有一种压抑 感。场地需要停车空间，这被安排在院子前端。洗涤烘干功能和店铺功能被安放在建筑中。如果用常规的方式来处理这个只有41平米的理发店，设计师非常担心他会消失在环境中，因此变换思维，考虑一种更为醒目的设计方式。将场地的最内侧放置主要空间。外侧则只剩入口和一个花园。建筑的弧线非常优美醒目，并和花园成为一个整体。空间不是一眼能够看透的，你需要持续的往建筑内部走。

设计师对建筑的曲线形式做了诸多研究，以维持室内空间的最佳平衡感。设计师希望能够创造出一个连续的序列空间，入口空间，虽然很小，但是对人们有一点体验式相同的，那就是一样大小的门。中间是可以 做5个人的理发空间，最后是洗发空间，天光成天窗洒下来，当顾客洗头的时候，他们可以仰望天空。当 你离开时，远处弯曲尽头的入口处，耀眼的光亮吸引你走过去。这个一个光环境非常微妙的联通空间。

Photographer: Kentaro Kurihara

MORE:

Studio Velocity

，更多请至：