The large wedge-shaped volume affords a stunning approach to the building that visually and physically draws the visitor from front to back. The narrow Tokyo lot next to Kazuo Shinohara’s Higashi-Tamagawa House and later Complex does not allow for this sort of sweeping approach. Adapting this building for the Tokyo site thus required an entirely different method of emphasis. In this case, we were interested in the form of the building itself and inspired by the perspective created when we analyzed its approach.

Other aspects reflect ideas from the original building, such as the semicircular entrance and windows stemming from interior function. At the same time, the neighboring Shinohara building inspired our overall form and the arrangement of apertures.