Press Release
Bronze A' Design Award in Interior Space and Exhibition Design Goes to Hat on the Ridge Residence and Gallery by Kiyotoshi Mori and Natsuko Kawamura
The international grand jury of the 2022 - 2023 A' Design Award & Competition recognizes Kiyotoshi Mori and Natsuko Kawamura for interior space and exhibition design
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
COMO, Italy, April 20, 2023 /DesignNewswire/ A' Design Award & Competition has announced that Hat on the Ridge Residence and Gallery by Kiyotoshi Mori and Natsuko Kawamura, designed for MDS Co., Ltd., has been granted the Bronze A' Design Award in the Interior Space and Exhibition Design category. The result belongs to the 2022 - 2023 A' Design Award & Competition and was decided through blind peer review by an international grand jury panel of established academics, design professionals and press members, who evaluated anonymized entries against predetermined criteria.
The Bronze A' Design Award Explained
The Bronze A' Design Award is given to outstanding designs that showcase a high degree of creativity and practicality. It recognizes the dedication and skill of designers who produce work that stands out for its thoughtful development and innovative use of materials and technology. These designs are acknowledged for their professional execution and potential to influence industry standards positively. Winning this award highlights the designer's ability to blend form and function effectively, offering solutions that enhance people's lives and wellbeing.
More About Hat on the Ridge Residence and Gallery
Hat on the Ridge is a two-story wooden residence with a gallery in Kamakura, Japan. The earthen floor rests directly on the bedrock, and a square pyramid roof covers a pillarless space. The roof is low at its edges and high at its center. Each of the four roof edges is flipped up to open toward a different view: the mountain, the valley, the village and the sky. Four distinct spaces are formed in this way. In the corners, the upper floor is cut through to the ground, connecting the two levels. Antiques are displayed at the scale of daily living.
About Kiyotoshi Mori and Natsuko Kawamura
We aim to create architecture that people will continue to love as time passes. Rather than pursue designs that look new on the surface or are full of unnecessary features, we feel it's most important to design comfortable spaces and attractive forms. In the 21st century, the diversification of lifestyles, climate change, and other factors have led to a greater variety of considerations when designing architecture than ever before. When we rethink about architecture, we believe it is even more important to think flexibly and free from preconceived ideas.
Award Record
Kiyotoshi Mori and Natsuko Kawamura is a winner of 2 A' Design Awards, including this recognition. The awards were granted between the 2021 - 2022 and the 2022 - 2023 editions of the A' Design Award & Competition.
About the A' Interior Space, Retail and Exhibition Design Award
The A' Interior Design Award is an international interior design competition recognizing good interior designs by interior designers and architects worldwide. It is organized within the A' Design Award & Competition and is open to interior designers, interior architects, architects and decorators from all countries. Typical entries include residential interiors, restaurants, hotels, offices, galleries and retail stores. The awarded interior designs are published at https://designers.org/design-category/interior
About A' Design Award & Competition
Organized annually since 2008, A' Design Award & Competition is an international, juried design accolade. The competition is open to entries from all countries. The philanthropic mission of the A' Design Award is to advance society through good design, by recognizing and promoting superior products, projects and services that benefit society, and by creating a global awareness and appreciation for good design practices and principles. Nominations are peer reviewed and evaluated anonymously by an international grand jury panel of established academics, design professionals and press members against predetermined criteria such as functionality, ergonomics, engineering, presentation, innovation, usability, sustainability and technology, with score normalization applied to remove biases. Awards are conferred at Platinum, Gold, Silver, Bronze and Iron levels. Eligible laureates receive the A' Design Prize, which includes the award trophy, the certificate of design excellence, the hardcover yearbook, a lifetime license to use the A' Design Award winner logo, exhibition of awarded works, an invitation to the gala night and award ceremony in Italy, inclusion in the World Design Rankings and Designer Rankings, and public relations and publicity services. Registration, uploading a work and receiving a preliminary score are free of charge, and Professional and Digital Edition laureates are not contractually obliged to pay further fees to claim the A' Design Prize. More information is available at https://competition.adesignaward.com
Press Resources
- Winner Page: https://designers.org/142103
- A' Design Award Page: https://competition.adesignaward.com/142103
- Media Showcase: https://www.designnewsroom.com/!142103
- Laureate Profile: https://designers.org/d/314395
- Further Information from the Laureate: https://www.mds-arch.com/works/detail.html?id=46&lang=en
Media Contact
Giulia Ferrari, Press Office
Designers.Org
Via Leone Leoni 32, 22100 Como, Italy
press@designers.org
+39 031 4491953
###
Fact Sheet
The Work
- Project
- Hat on the Ridge Residence and Gallery
- Function
- Residence and Gallery
- Category
- Interior Space and Exhibition Design
- Discipline
- Spatial Design
- Industry
- Architecture and Packaging & Retail
- Colors
- Dark Slate Gray, Dark Olive Green, Black, Sienna and Dim Gray
- Images
- 5
- Client
- MDS Co., Ltd.
The Recognition
- Laureate
- Kiyotoshi Mori and Natsuko Kawamura
- Country
- Japan
- Recognition
- Bronze A' Design Award
- Edition
- 2022 - 2023
- Design ID
- #142103
Credits
- Team
- Kiyotoshi Mori and Natsuko Kawamura
- Image Credits
- Photographer TOREAL Koji Fujii
Design Details
- Unique Properties
- Earthen floor connects with the bedrock, and square roof opens to the landscape - The space was vertically diversified by adding the floor on the ground and levitating the roof over the earth. The roof lowers down towards the roof edge and heightens up in the center. Each of the four edges of the roof opens to a different view: the mountain, the valley, the village, and the sky. Responding to these rich surroundings, each edge is flipped up to make four different spaces with different views.
- Inspiration
- The origin of the idea is a pit dwelling that blends in with the mountain range. Removing soft sediments over the surface by the shape of the building footprint to put the foundation directly on the bedrock, a semi-subterranean-like space buried in the earth is created. The space was then vertically diversified by adding another floor above the ground and levitating the roof over the earth.
- Research
- From a gallery-like space to a house with a gallery. When the construction was first completed, the ground floor entrance hall and upper floor bookshelves were gallery-like spaces for displaying antiques and other items that were the owner's hobby. By displaying them within the scale of the living space, the works of art feel more familiar, and visitors can easily imagine the scene in which they will be placed in their residences.
- Challenge
- The site is covered in a soft sediment over the surface of bedrock. The site was above the road level by just the thickness of the soil, which we chose to remove by the shape of the building footprint to put the foundation directly on the bedrock. The approach from the road is dug into this soil as well, gently sloping up towards the house. By placing a structurally stable pyramid roof over the simple square-shaped plan of the house, we created a pillarless space under the single roof.
- Realization and Technology
- Earthen floor connects with the bedrock, and square roof opens to the landscape. Each of the four edges of the roof opens to a different view: the mountain, the valley, the village, and the sky. Responding to these rich surroundings, each edge is flipped up to make four different spaces with different views.
- Operation and Interaction
- Cut through the floor in the corners - In the corners where the roof edges were left unflipped, the upper level floor is cut through to the ground to connect the two levels. Flip up the roof edges - Each of the four edges of the roof opens to a different view: the mountain, the valley, the village, and the sky. Responding to these rich surroundings, each edge is flipped up to make four different spaces with different views.
- Project Duration and Location
- The construction started in in September 2018 and finished in May 2019 in Kamakura, Japan.
- Specifications
- 2story wooden building Width 6825mm x Depth 6825mm x Height 6970mm
- Keywords
- Villa, Gallery, Pit dwelling, Dorma, Cats, Vista, Mountain, Village, Sky, valley
