In a Tokyo high-rise, storage turns into structure. The two,000-square-foot Akasaka Morandi I house, a collaboration between APOLLO Architects & Associates and Molteni designer Nicola Gallizia, transforms what sometimes recedes into background – cabinetry and storage methods – into the defining structural ingredient of the house. Storage modules are arguably the essence of the Molteni model, and right here they change into one thing extra profound – the “core” of the architectural expertise itself.
What makes this intervention notably profitable is how the storage system features concurrently as exhibition house, room divider, and circulation information. When friends enter the household room, they encounter what the designers describe as theatrical visible presentation. The cabinetry turning into each gallery wall and spatial delineator. The cautious materiality reinforces this duality – pure oak doorways create a heat canvas for show, whereas darkish oak ceiling panels set up a robust distinction that frames your complete composition.
The sequence of motion alongside these modules creates a story development from public to personal, directing the friends’ journey by way of the house. This choreography of motion resonates with conventional Japanese architectural components – notably the fragile transitions created by shoji screens and paper dividers. The storage wall thus turns into a cultural bridge, revealing surprising commonalities between Italian design sensibilities and Japanese spatial ideas.
Materials decisions additional intensify these sensibilities. Brass accents spotlight artwork items and lighting towards the restrained wooden palette, whereas moist areas function silver travertine and Ceppo stone-patterned ceramic tiles. These supplies carry a distinctly Italian sense of managed luxurious to the house with out overwhelming its important tranquility. The place earlier generations could have disguised storage as structure, this strategy embraces its performance whereas concurrently elevating it.
Pictures by Masao Nishikawa.
