The Japanese architect of Kino architects, Masahiro Kinoshita has completed an interior design remodeling project of an apartment in Japan. His main remodeling ideas, was implemented by dividing the apartment’s interior into two distinct areas: a white-painted portion comprising a kitchen, toilet, bathroom and closet with fixed layouts, and a wood-paneled space to be arranged according to the occupant’s needs.
The apartment was attached to a landowner’s house. Back then, the apartment’s layout was “2DK” style, which was the most common in Japan, consists of two private bedrooms, a dining room that is connected to the kitchen, a bathroom, and a rest room. Majority of apartments in Japan used this layout, and within time, the style was becoming outdated and rigid for modern urbanites.
The idea of “White Space” and “Wood Space” came up to break down the rigidity of the 2DK apartment. “White Space” consists of a wet area (kitchen, toilet, bathroom, and washing basin) and a closet. There are three factor that should be considered when defining the volume: the wet area facilities, the overall storage space, and the user’s body size.
The main theme of the “Wood Space” is flexibility, which is why we chose to use an L-shape. While it is only a single room, the L-shape allows the area to be divided into two or three distinctive sections, depending on how the user sees fit. Therefore, the apartment can become acclimatized to several activities at any one time – it becomes a more natural environment because the areas created by the user will not impede upon one another.
Via. Photography by Masahiro Kinoshita
