Interview with HISAAKI HIRAWATA + TOMOHIRO WATABE/MOMENT —part 2
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new designs can be created by considering what is essential and what is the original state
— Hisaaki Hirawata + Tomohiro Watabe / MOMENT
photography : MOMENT, Fumio Araki
words : Reiji Yamakura/IDREIT
continue from part 1
“Interview with HISAAKI HIRAWATA + TOMOHIRO WATABE / MOMENT —part 1”
MOMENT has renovated a 130sqm residence in an apartment building in Tokyo. At the middle of the dwelling, they created a room called ‘Gallery’ just for showcasing art. photography: MOMENT
Next to the gallery, a dining room was planned without doors.
—Can you please tell us about RESIDENCE WS, a completely renovated apartment in Tokyo?
This is the house of a couple who love art. The clients, who replace artworks on a daily basis, wanted to create a lifestyle that changes as the scenery transitions from day to day, so we designed it based on the concept of "metabolism". This is symbolised by a room called “Gallery” in the centre of the house. We designed this room without any furniture and to be decorated with art chosen according to the mood of the moment.
— That’s unique.
The dining room next to it can be used as a dining for five or six people, and if ten people gather, the adjacent gallery can be used as a restaurant by moving tables in. The gallery, without any furniture, is like a blank space in a puzzle, and it functions as an important space that changes the scene of life.
— How did you design the openings with exposed rough concrete?
As the clients wanted to use them like a single room, the doors are all sliding doors that can be hidden in the wall, and all the rooms are open except for the toilet. Although we could not change the position of the opening because of its structure, we removed the door frame and left the concrete exposed to use the opening as it was. In this house, we thought of contemporary art as a kind of finishing material for the interior. This design is the result of blurring the boundaries between the base and the finish layer, and thinking about furniture, architecture, and interior design without separating them.
They removed the existing door frame and designed an opening with exposed concrete.
— That’s very interesting. What did you pay attention to in relation to the existing elements?
Since it was an old apartment, we didn't know what the structure would look like until it was dismantled. Thus, we made the entire apartment transparent and figured out the structure while drawing sketches on site. We did not align the existing beams and pipes for the equipment on the surface, but gave a subtle unevenness so that soft shadows would fall on each part. For example, the wall of the dining room had a duct near the ceiling, but we installed a hanging wall in front of it to eliminate the presence of the beam and cast a soft shadow on the wall.
In the dining room, the hanging wall was created slightly longer to hide the ducts. The designers also aimed to cast soft shadows on the walls by this hanging wall.
The art hangs on the wall above the boxy antique furniture chosen by the owner. The designers created the fit-out, taking into account the placement of the art and furniture.
— The well-considered detail creates a soft impression, doesn't it?
Yes. What we had been thinking about through this project was that houses are different in many ways depending on how people live. The dining room and the bedroom are usually determined by the facilities, but we wanted to go beyond the idea that actions are determined by the furniture.
After the completion, we felt that there are people who want to live in a way that allows them to shift without fixing the elements as we had tried to do here. We have a feeling that new designs can be created by considering what is essential and what is the original state.
— Wow, I am looking forward to the future. Finally, what do you guys consider important when designing?
In both space and graphic design, basically, we do not do anything unnecessary, but discover the strengths and uniqueness of the client, and design with an approach that enhances them. In this process, we sometimes strip away what is already there, rather than adding design.
When we proceed with a specific design, we always keep in mind the time axis, such as the speed with which people can understand the design. For example, in the case of direct mail, whether it is thrown away immediately or opened is very different like 0 or 100. When it comes to facade dsign, theoretically, if the sales per customer is low, the store should be designed to make it easy for customers to enter, but we also consider ways to tickle the customers’ mood the moment they pass by the store.
In the cafe ‘ROOTH 2-3-3’, a renovation project of old warehouse, a picture window was installed in the centre of the facade. photography: Fumio Araki
Passersby can clearly see the coffee counter and seating area through the glass.
‘ROOTH 2-3-3’ has an effect to make customers excited when they enter the store because of its long approach, but that alone is not enough to attract customers. For the eye-catching, we set up a picture window that allows customers to see the inside atmosphere of the store from the outside. You should note that the size of the window is not determined by making it look just beautiful, but by figuring out the reasons why customers want to look inside and want to enter.
— You analyze people's behavior by paying attention to time. I think MOMENT is good at designing to feature the main thing like a material or a product in the store, but are you considering that?
Actually, we are very careful about the master-subordinate relationship. We tend to add more and more designs because we both are tempted to do so, but we always stop and check the balance in the middle. We call it 'Tuning', and we repeatedly make fine adjustments by saying that this part is strong or weak. If the relationship between the master and subordinate in the space is broken, everything falls apart, so we are very particular about that as we look nervous.
After 15 years as a design studio, we have finally been able to express such small differences and design to make the most of the original state.
ISSEY MIYAKE MEN Nagoya/ To convey the brand philosophy, the designers used custom-made steel plates as a backdrop for clothing. photography: Fumio Araki
As they explained by mentioning the precision of "tuning" and the word “bridge”, what makes MOMENT unique is the attitude of thinking thoroughly about how the space should be. When we asked them, who recently published a book of their works overseas, if they are intentionally representing Japanese styles, they answered, "We don't intend to create a Japanese style design, but it seems that simplifying and organizing things look Japanese by people from other countries”.
We will continue to pay attention to the evolution of their designs that contain natural phenomena in the store like ISSEY MIYAKE MEN, and methods that allow for "shifting" like RESIDENCE WS.
MOMENT
Hisaaki Hirawata (left) / Born in 1974. Tomohiro Watabe (right) / Born in 1975. After studied architecture in Tama Art University, they worked for design offices separately. In 2005, they established MOMENT, a creative and multidisciplinary design company that offers sophisticated solutions. Its innovative, multidimensional projects range across graphic, product and interior design, as well as architecture, redefining the boundaries of design in the process.
