Interview with TOMOYUKI SAKAKIDA / Tomoyuki Sakakida Architect

sakakida-tomoyuki-architect-ntv-office-interior-design-tokyo-japan-idreit-005m.jpg — *always pay the closest attention to the atmosphere that comes out from each material*

— Tomoyuki Sakakida / Tomoyuki Sakakida Architect

photography : Koichi Torimura (NTV PROJECT), Shinichi Sato (SHANON), Daici Ano (SUN-AD)

words : Reiji Yamakura/IDREIT

JP

We interviewed Architect Tomoyuki Sakakida about the concept of work “NTV Project” that he did on an executives-only reception room, and his commitment over the building materials he used in this project.

In parallel to his role as President of Tomoyuki Sakakida Architect, he works on New Material Research Laboratory (NMRL) that he established together with artist Hiroshi Sugimoto, and this is where he is constantly looking for designs that set out the traditional Japanese sense of beauty as their own identity.

Tomoyuki Sakakida Architect designed a reception room for executives named ‘NTV Project’ in Tokyo.

Sakakida installed ceramic art wall created by Tokuro Kato. The table was made of ‘Jindai-Sugi’ cedar.

A ‘Towada-ishi’ made low table named ‘SUKI Table’ was installed for the lounge. The green-stone-made table was deigned by Tomoyuki Sakakida for the furniture brand ‘by interiors’.

— What functionalities and designs were requested in your project, NTV Project?

In terms of functionalities, I was requested to create a space where guests can enjoy light meals during and after business meetings. For the designs, since they have many guests from overseas, the client requested the room to have some Japanese touch to it but without being fully traditionally Japanese.

— The wall with the instalment of ceramic art piece looks quite powerful.

Since the client requested a part of this large piece of ceramic wall art that was created by Tokuro Kato and owned by the client, to be used in this project, I transferred the major part of this art piece to the reception room.

The overall space is simple, but I designed it while consciously thinking about achieving its structure to have Japanese feeling to it, and I did that by placing a flow of line from the spot where a path made from Japanese roof tiles is, to the main room where this path leads to.

I also placed a sofa with lower seat surface, and lowered the eaves of the outside balcony to make the lateral side look longer in proportion, and to shift the balance of the whole appearance to a lower point. On top of that, I created a small garden in the balcony space because I thought it would be essential to design a space where you can sense both inside and outside of the room at the same time.

The sliding partition was made of Akita-sugi cedar.

The lower ceiling of the balcony made a wide proportion to create a sense of Japaneseness for the space.

— What materials did you use on each part?

For the lattice sliding door that was made from Akita cedar, I tried to make the whole design to look sharper by using a latticework with wood pieces that were assembled in 45 degrees angle to show their edges when seen from the front.

For the flooring and walls, I used Ashino stones that I frequently use, and for the corridor flooring I used Japanese roof tiles with black matte texture. These tiles were created by a studio in Nara Prefecture that specialises in roof tiles for temples and shrines.

The large table was created from cedar called 'Jindai-Sugi' that was just like a fossil tree buried under the ground for a long period.

— They do surely sound like they were selected carefully, but do you actually visit each workshop and studio?

Yes, I do visit them often, because I would like to see the actual works done at those workshops. When items are created with the traditional methods, the quality of each product will not be equal like it is with today’s manufacturing methods. This natural inequality is the good thing about the traditional crafting, but then I need to really look at them with my own eyes if I want to select out the expected level of quality.

Also, I try to have as much communication as possible with the craftsmen who do the actual work because that will help us bring out their high skills and talents.

Tomoyuki Sakakida Architect designed office “SHANON(2011)” with steal plates having natural beautiful oxdation pattern on surface. photography: Shinichi Sato

— You do a lot of work for overseas clients, but what kind of designs do they request you?

In my cases, I usually get requests to create a space with a touch of Japanese essence, rather than the traditional Japanese architectural design. I get requests from overseas clients to achieve views of nature that they felt when they visited Japan, or the textures of natural materials.

The course of direction I take in my projects is to design spaces with modern approach while taking in these different elements into my creations.

— Those elements that remind of Japan, do they naturally appear in your mind, Mr. Sakakida?

Well, in my case, I did not start designing architecture while consciously thinking about Japan, but the Japanese context does affect the physical feeling and the sense of scale that are present on my drawings, and those Japanese contexts do affect my designs that well considers the eye flow, and each space that I design to make it look like it has a lower centre of gravity, and I achieve this by placing furniture with a longer width or a lower surface level to make the whole space look lower and wider proportion on its sides.

Sakakida utilised some design theories of modernism for the office “ SUN-AD (2008)”. photography: Daici Ano

I learnt how I should take the architectural approach from my mentor, Mr. Waro Kishi. Kishi’s modernism thought remains inside of me as a basic framework, and the things I learnt from Mr. Hiroshi Sugimoto are put to great use on how I add Japanese elements to that basic framework.

Also, recently, I try to consciously think about how far I can go with my works using the items that I can obtain in Japan. I always pay the closest attention to the atmosphere that comes out from each material, so I would like to keep creating space that will not lose these atmospheres even after some time passes.

Even if you look at one piece of roof tile, it will tell you all sorts of different stories in fine detail, like the place it was created, the method being used, appearance of the tile when cut in half, etc. We also discussed with him in detail about different architects from modern times to the famous ones such as Isoya Yoshida and Sutemi Horiguchi from the past times.

We are quite certain that the beautiful space he designs will express all the things Mr. Sakakida experienced in the past, regardless of its nationality or period, through his own special filter. Next time, I would like to ask him about the projects he does in NMRL.