Interviews med Hayato Ishii

When I was a child, I loved looking at the floor plans of houses in newspaper advertisements and imagining how I would live there, arranging the furniture, which was my weekly pastime on Sundays. My mother saw this and told me that there was a job in architectural design, and I became vaguely aware of architectural design. As a high school student, I was very interested in interior spaces rather than the exterior of buildings. Therefore, I wanted to take a course specialising in interior spaces as my university major. However, in Japan at that time, architecture was for men and interior space design was for women, and the course I wanted to take was for women only, so I remember feeling disappointed that I could not go on to higher education. Even now that I am an architect, I still attach great importance to the interior spaces where people actually live.

After working for three years in the design office of Daniela Puppa in Milan, I opened the studio acca first-class architectural office in Tokyo in 2004. In 2017, the firm was incorporated as studio acca Inc. The firm has been designing, supervising and designing many detached houses, villas and condominiums, etc. With the increase in the number of people seeking a new lifestyle, the number of projects at Lake Kawaguchi and Lake Biwa has increased, and we are working through trial and error with the builders to create a place that is more personal to them. We place the greatest importance on designing through dialogue with the builders, rather than creating a building as a work of art. What do they value when building a building, and what do they want to do there? By discussing these issues at length, we come up with more enjoyable ideas and propose designs and designs that we think are best for the builder.

I believe that design is not only about design. In my opinion, a good design is not only beautiful in terms of design, but also well-balanced in terms of productivity, cost, and functionality. I believe that design is an essential and important thing for human beings to lead a rich life. At least, for me, it is.

I am attracted to designing spaces where people live. These include houses, holiday homes and hotels. I like to imagine people's lives. I am also attracted to designing spaces that the client can discuss with me. Of course, I am confident in my own design, but after all, I am creating a space for the client, so I want to communicate as closely as possible and get as excited as possible with each other as I design.

What I would like to design someday is a building like the Farnsworth House designed by Mies van der Rohe. It may be a little inconvenient for living, but the stable horizontal lines and the way it brings the outside environment into the interior are very interesting. However, if I were to design this building, I would think about whether it could be made of wood and glass instead of steel and glass. I would like to have a slightly more human-friendly texture. Also very interesting is the Schrader house designed by Rietveld. The idea of using partitions to identify rooms is something that only Rietveld, who also designs furniture, could come up with. This is very helpful when designing a small house in Japan.

The first building we designed was a corporate office building for a computer software company. The client had three main requirements: perfect security, consideration for the physically challenged, and visibility from the highway. In terms of security, we not only blocked material intrusion with a security system, but also blocked sight lines by using glass blocks on the walls that allow light to pass through but block sight lines. In addition, a ramp for wheelchair access was installed. The ramp, which tends to be in the shadows because of its functional priority, is placed in parallel with the stairs, which signify the connection to the next step, and was purposely adopted as the main façade. The facade of the building can be seen clearly from the highway running in front of the site, creating an outstanding advertising effect.

I like matte colored materials. And I also like materials with a textured surface rather than smooth mirrored surfaces. This is because a material with a textured surface expresses the shadows in the room very beautifully.

I think I am most creative in the moment when I make a plan for a large empty lot, imagining the surrounding environment and the client's life. Everything is a hypothetical plan based on my own imagination and assumptions, and I am always nervous when I present it to the client. Through dialogue with the client, I brush up that hypothesis and evolve it into a fixed theory that the client is really looking for.

The project was originally inspired by the street art that dotted the streets of New York City, where the client spent time as a student.We thought that art should not be something you go all the way to museums to see, but something that exists in our daily lives and should be more familiar to us.The client wanted to create a place where people could feel close to art, like the streets of New York.We also thought it would be meaningful if we could provide a place for young artists who have not yet been able to showcase their work to the world.

Before designing hotel norm. air, we designed a related lodging facility called hotel norm. fuji.I synchronized the shape of the accommodation with that of the hotel.I also wanted people to focus their attention on the view of Lake Kawaguchi in front of the building, so I erected walls on both sides of the building, with openings only in the front.The exterior walls are finished with a traditional Japanese thatched roof with a single letter to express stillness in contrast to the movement of the surrounding environment.

Kawaguchiko is a very cold area.Even if you come to visit this place, you can enjoy this hotel regardless of the weather so that you will not be unable to do all the things you want to do because of cold or rain.Also, the balcony is higher than the surrounding buildings, so you can see a nice view of Kawaguchi Lake without having to put in extra buildings.

Basically, artworks selected by norm. members are exhibited on a monthly basis. For the artists, it is a great opportunity to catch the attention of many guests, and for the guests, they are greeted by a different presentation each time they come to the same building.The hotel is constantly evolving.

As mentioned above, it is very cold in the winter at Lake Kawaguchi, and it is not possible to stay outside for long periods of time.However, in winter, when the air is clearer, you can see the beauty of Lake Kawaguchi.We would like our guests to see such beautiful scenery and experience the smell of the forest in the morning.For this reason, we have created a large balcony as a space where guests can escape from the rain and cold as much as possible.

While actively using modern materials and techniques, we tried to create a relaxing space, a landscape that we have seen in the distant past.We also tried to choose materials within the color scheme we had initially decided upon, rather than using a large number of materials and colors.

Yes, the overall shape of the building may seem avant-garde and eccentric, but it was designed in accordance with the standards of the Natural Parks Law.I also think that the fact that the exterior of the building is all black is a major factor in its ability to blend in with the natural surroundings.We created an exciting feeling that the building could be seen from a distance, just a little bit.

I think the best expression of The concept of “luxury chill” is the large inner balcony.I think that just sitting there in a daze is the meaning of coming to this hotel.Even if I don't do anything myself, the surrounding environment changes little by little as time goes by, and I think it has the effect of relaxing my mind and body tired from the hustle and bustle of the city.

hotel norm. air is not only a place to stay, but also a place for communication. In addition to accommodations, the hotel can be used for magazine and video shoots, weddings, parties, and other events.By increasing opportunities for many people to gather, the artwork displayed there will be seen by many people.

It is no exaggeration to say that after the pandemic, not only in this area but also in many other areas, single-building rental accommodations have become rampant.In this situation, the hotel management of hotel norm. air, which is constantly changing, has a solid concept that does not allow others to follow.I believe that the secret of success lies not only in creating a well-designed building, but also in creating a hotel with a solid concept.