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Fabric Panel Doors

While waiting to visit Kengo Kuma’s office, we entered one of the buildings around. There, we came to a big room that had these fabric panels on the outside. At the time, they were all placed at the side but when we put them into place, the room became much more private. When they aren’t used, they are on the side, one next to the other leaving the room open and easily accessible.

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Takenaka Carpenty Tools Museum by Takenaka Corporation | Kobe

The first space of the carpentry museum has a system under the floor that allows for panels to be placed on top and create walls for exhibitions. This system forms a grid and it is spread out all over the floor of this room. When there is no need for those additions, a lid is placed on top of these systems, hiding them under the wooden floor and leaving the space open. This way they can use this space in many different ways.

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Nezu museum by Kengo Kuma | Tokyo

The Nezu museum presents a different aspect of manipulation of space that is caused by rain. Standing inside the building and looking outside the window before it rains, the focus is on the garden, however as soon as it starts raining, a water curtain is created, changing the focus and the mood completely. This happens due to the overhanging roof, that allows the water to fall down this way. The line of small black rocks at the ground allow for a place where the water can fall, enhancing that water curtain effect.

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Kanagawa Institute of Technology Workshop by Jun’ya Ishigami | Atsugi, Kanagawa

In this workshop, there were a few examples of manipulation of space.

Firstly, most of the furniture such as the tables or bigger equipment, are easy to move, either by being light enough or by having wheels. With everything being able to move around, the university students can create their own personal work spaces, without being restrained.

Secondly, the ceiling windows have fabric sheets hanging under them, which are held together by clips. Those sheets seem thin enough to allow some light in however if they were taken out, there would have been more direct sunlight. At one of the workshop corners, there were no sheets on the ceiling windows and that made the area much warmer than the rest. That indicates that the sheets were placed afterwards to keep the temperature lower. It’s possible they are taken off during winter to warm up the space.

Lastly, big curtains were hanging from the ceiling on the inside of the exterior glass walls. Those can be used to make the building more private, or again, block some of the sun when needed.

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21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art by SANAA | Kanazaawa

This museum could be characterized as a shape shifting one, as many of its walls move around, creating space for new exhibitions. The glass walls at the center, depending how they are placed, change the circulation of the building, either allowing access or blocking it. Walls were hidden within other walls, and so when there is necessity for a more enclosed space they are taken out, changing the space completely. Even at the ceiling there was a system that allowed for the walls to be moved around easier, as well as some of the lights.

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Sunny Hills by Kengo Kuma | Minami-Aoyama, Tokyo

The manipulation of space is one aspect that stood out in the Japanese architecture. Many of the buildings have been designed in a way that their form, function and mood can change at any moment, either due to a natural cause (rain) or due to man-made systems (movable paper walls).  

The first example is at the third floor of SunnyHills cake shop. There was an open room, with tables that could easily become more private just by moving around three panel walls made from wood and paper. There was no limitation as to how the panels could be positioned, so it is possible to enclose the space only halfway through. This way, the building can keep its open design, while also being able to adapt to different needs.