Residence in Kurakuen / NRM-Architects Office

The program called for a main residence and a working space. The house and office are two separate independent entities however have a seamless relationship. There are two entrances to the building, including a three car garage and carriage porch to receive visitors. According to the architects the design of these elements stemmed from what the site demanded. The building itself is intercepted with a circumference and the southern face’s depth and space communicate a feeling of freedom by taking and making use of the surrounding landscape in the design of a garden in the inside space.

Two very special features of this building include the main entrance staircase, well framed and ascentuated. The other is the mystery water pool. Its actual size is small, but Eiji's photo elevated it to a "swimming pool" feeling.

Architects: NRM-Architects Office

Location: Hyougo, Japan
Design: Shunichiro Ninomiya and Tomoko Morodome
Project Area: 340 sqm
Project Year: 2010
Photographs: Eiji Tomita

Zaha-New urban square at the heart of Nicosia

The project of Eleftheria Square is situated in the political context of Nicosia, Europe’s last divided capital and in the historical context of the adjacent Venetian Wall which is buffered by a recessed moat that presently consists of a mainly inaccessible garden and landscape areas. This massive fortification defines the extents of the ancient city and separates it from the modern city outside the walls.

The architectural intervention at Eleftheria Square, which is only a part of a much larger urban planning vision that could become a catalyst for the urban unification of the capital, aspires to organise and synthesise the whole of the Venetian Wall, the Moat and the fringes of inner and the outer parts of the city into a unified whole.

STL'sConcept for the Kaohsiung Maritime Cultural & Popular Music Center Competition

Kaohsiung City Government recently hosted a competition for a Marine Culture and Pop Music Center on the city's waterfront.The Kaohsiung harbor is truly at the heart of the Kaohsiung urban landscape. Adjoined by the surrounding downtown areas, where the Taiwan Strait meets the love river, there is a critical opportunity to establish a new urban fabric as a fulcrum for the Asia-Pacific music culture and an international exchange platform for marine culture. The project presents a unique opportunity to impact a large area of Kaohsiung with an ambitious complex program. The challenge arises from the need to provide the new center with an iconic identity while allowing it to be an urban space of civic stature for the enjoyment of locals, tourists and concert goers.