United Cinemas Urawa 影院综合体 by Ichiro Katami and Kunihisa Akiyama

United Cinemas Urawa 影院综合体 by Ichiro Katami and Kunihisa Akiyama is a highly esteemed winner of the very prestigious 2018 A' Design Award 铜奖 in 室内空间与展览设计 Competition Category.

铜室内· 2018

United Cinemas Urawa 影院综合体

by Ichiro Katami and Kunihisa Akiyama

Client: Unite Cinemas Co., Ltd

A' Design Award 铜奖 Winner in 室内 Category

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Colors

The Design

About United Cinemas Urawa 影院综合体

电影院大厅、走廊的墙面和天花板采用白色涂装，地毯为黑色。放映室采用玻璃幕墙设计，使顾客能够看到实际工作中的放映机和工程师。这里设有放映博物馆，博物馆内陈列着35毫米胶片放映机、氙气灯、35毫米和70毫米胶片、开盘式胶片盘以及各类工具。还配备了电影图书馆咖啡厅，藏有500本电影相关书籍。这些元素激发了顾客的求知欲，而精致的室内空间则起到协调统一的作用。

The Recognition

About the A' Design Award 铜奖

United Cinemas Urawa 影院综合体是 A' Design Award 铜奖得主，这是授予以创造力、独创性和敏锐见长的杰出设计的极具声望的认可。铜奖得主是技艺娴熟、创意惊人的作品，印证了其设计师丰富的经验、想象力与机智。预计United Cinemas Urawa 影院综合体将成为一件备受推崇、令人钦佩且被珍爱的物品，兼具显著的专业性与创新性。这件赢得 A' Design Award 铜奖的设计融入艺术、科学、设计和技术领域的最佳实践，并因注重细节而出类拔萃。United Cinemas Urawa 影院综合体出色地满足需求，触动渴望，迷住情感，并吸引好奇心。

Behind the Design

Press Kit

Credits, team members and technical details provided by the designer.

Unique Properties: The snow-white lobby like art museum welcomes guests and makes them wonder this place really a cinema because it has white walls, white ceiling, and dark tone floor. Guests can see the glass-in projection room, which becomes 70 meters, so they find how movies are projected and equipment as projectors, films, xenon lamps which is exhibited with instructions, and other tools. We call them the Cinema Museum. There also is the Library Cafe, which contains 1000 books related in movies, is open for every customers and they can get involved in the world of movies with cup of coffee relaxing in cinema chairs.
Dimensions & Packaging: 9 Screens, 7,131 sqm., Total capacity 1665 seats
Tags: Cinema, Cinema Museum, Library Cafe, Movie, Urawa
Production Technology: We used high performance Acrylic resin emulsion white paint for antifouling. We used the glass for projection room's long wall. The smoke glass has some shading rate to come over the dilemma that we have to cut the beam from customers, but want to show them the projector.
Design Challenge: The projection rooms placed in the backyards and guests have no chance to see it usually. However, we rethought such orthodox idea and made them one of the main character of here. To do so, various things had to be changed such as the smoke glass wall and staff operations was not exceptional. For instance, the projection engineers should not be conspicuous generally, but the glassed-room makes them impossible to be unknown. As long as such situation, we put the red clothes on them so they shall be stand out. So, the flexible idea and approach to make everything be harmonized is the hardest part of this project.
Research: The building has shopping tenants from basement floor to 5th floor, and 6th and 7th floor occupied by the Cinema and above is City Library. In such location, I believed that the Cinema should make relationship among whole building, not a tenant exists on its own, and it is possible. Thus there should be casual space where fashion-conscious customers visiting clothing stores will come, and should have setups that the visitors of the City Library drop in.
Inspiration: Having the good relationship with the shopping mall which contains City Library was the beginning of this project. People who visit the building are highly sensitive and full of intellectual curiosity. Considering the movies as intellectual content, cinemas can be place satisfies such people as libraries or Museums, not just a place watching movies. Such place must be cozy and comfortable for adults but not like uplifting and exciting that was usual interior design for cinemas.
Project Duration: The project started in 2005 and finished in 2007 in Saitama, JAPAN
Operation Flow: This cinema is designed to connect a formal faculty,the City Library, and fashionable place, Shopping mall. To make Cinema not divided, or isolated from public space, it has no noticeable facade so customers can walk through the lobby and take rest with no movie tickets. Also, people in the Library Cafe can enjoy their reading with a cup of coffee and muffin, that prohibited in usual libraries. The Library is specialized in movies with 1000 books that satisfy people who want to know more about movie. Everyone can use the Library Cafe without movie ticket so they feel free to visit cinema to just drink coffee for taking a rest from shopping or asking for a bite of muffin from the City Library and it makes the building lively.
Team Members: Interior Design: Ichiro Katami
Graphic and Sign Design: Naoyuki Suzuki
Book Select: Yataro Matsuura
Cafe Adviser: Sadahiro Nakamura
Architect: Kenichi Miyake
Art Direction: Kunihisa Akiyama
Image Credits: Noriyuki Yano/ Nacasa and Partners Inc.