The logic of architecture permeates the interior, and the interiors concept seeps out onto the exterior - both are possible.

Insights ─Shaping the Future
INTERVIEW

In the second installment of the series "Insights - The Shape of the Future," which explores hints for the future, we invited Yuko Nagayama, an architect known for her architectural concept design that incorporate not only buildings but also the experiences of the place, to talk with Asako Harayama NOMURA about the new relationship between architecture and interiors, sustainable architecture for the future, and more.

Renovation requires expertise

Harayama NOMURA Ltd. established a new department called the Architectural Production Department this March. There are two main reasons for this. First, while new buildings are being built one after another in various urban developments, there is a growing need for sustainable ways to renovate old buildings. We specialize in infill interiors and displays based on human experiences, and have increased the value of buildings, but with architectural knowledge we can increase that value even more.

Another reason is that we do a lot of work from planning and conception before commercialization, such as utilizing unused land, but by not constructing the building itself, there is a gap between the time we return to the site and the interiors stage. I want to be involved in the entire process of turning a concept into reality.
Mr. Nagayama is an architect, but his style is to work closely with the people involved and see a project through to the very end.

Nagayama: That's right. In fact, we are getting more renovation work. There are legal issues, so it's probably difficult for clients to ask interior designers. They want to ask architects, but old houses are very difficult. How to structurally reinforce and remodel the building, and then how to concept design interiors. If we don't have carpenters or structural engineers who are used to that, it's quite difficult for us to think about it in terms of the structural logic of the Building Standards Act. Renovation is not about strengthening one place, but about the overall balance, so we need the knowledge of someone who is used to it.

Also, unless you take detailed measures against neighbors and discuss with the government, the possibilities for what can be created will change significantly. I think it would be good to have a company that can look at the whole picture.
 

Harayama: Our company is seeing an increase in the number of cases where old houses are renovated. We add new value to the good old culture and assets of the local area and revitalize them. It's a very rewarding job.

The company has also worked on projects such as the auberge LOQUAT Nishiizu and LOQUAT Villa SUGURO, which were renovated from old houses in Nishiizu; Kira Obi Aiya Residence, an old Japanese-style house renovated into accommodation in Nichinan City, Miyazaki Prefecture; and The Hotel Seiryu Kyoto Kiyomizu, a restored elementary school building from over 90 years ago in Kyoto.

When trying to preserve the town's culture and important historical buildings, local construction companies can't do it, and it's not the job of a major general contractor. I think NOMURA is just the right size for the job. In addition to renovating buildings, we also plan content that enhances the appeal of the buildings and match them with businesses.

What can be created through architecture is different from what can be achieved through interiors

Harayama　 We are trying to approach architecture from interiors, but conversely, Mr. Nagayama often starts with the architecture and then handles interiors as well.
 

Nagayama　 Yes. I would like to do it if we could do it all by ourselves, but there are quite a few things that we can't do due to capacity. In that case, we will have to get collaborators, but maybe the opposite is also true. After all, what can be created through architecture and what can be achieved through interiors are a little different.

However, in recent projects, we have become less keen to separate the exterior and interior. We create a unique worldview for the building and fuse the exterior and interior together.
In the past, commercial facilities were box-shaped and you could barely see outside, but now they incorporate as much greenery as possible and create terraces. Sometimes the logic of the architecture is on the inside, and sometimes the ideas of the interior design seep out to the outside, so I think there are both kinds of patterns.
 

Harayama　 Recently, I feel more and more that it is necessary for architecture and interiors to overlap. In the traditional architectural process, there are few cases where the concrete interiors plan is considered from the start, and architecture and interiors are often separate processes.
 

Nagayama: What often makes me think, "What, what a waste," is that, as creators of the boxes, we had explained how we wanted them to be used, but that wasn't communicated well, and the other party ended up making up a completely different story for it and changing it in a direction completely different from our intentions.
 

Harayama: When I was in charge of a certain museum in the past, it was to be located in a newly constructed building, but there were some issues with the flow of people through the museum, so we had to change the design of the building even while the planning was still in progress.

It's not that architects are particularly bad, but I think that if you don't communicate with them from the concept and planning stages and work together to figure out how the space will be used and how people will move around, you're going to end up wasting space. In that sense, I feel that the collaboration between architecture and interiors infill will become increasingly important in the future.

It's important to have a "connector" who can communicate the concept

Harayama: For example, JINS' "JINS PARK Maebashi" was designed by you. I think it's really wonderful because it seems that the facility was built with everything planned out in advance, not just the functionality of the shop, but also the experience of the space.
 

It's a Nagayama Eyewear store, but we don't just want to sell products; we also want to provide an experience. We wanted the open interior of the store to blend in with the garden, so that visitors can find their favorite spot to spend time there, just like having a picnic in the park.
We put in a bakery, but if we made it an eat-in area, we would have to separate the space into paid and non-paid areas, so we made it all take-out so that customers could eat wherever they wanted. We also considered the operation of providing bread, and created showcases and tags to go with it.
If you carefully create the space in this way, while adapting it to the contents, it will be able to operate smoothly in the way you envisioned after opening.
 

So you're not just designing Harayama Architecture, you're designing the entire project. Our architectural production department has the same idea, and rather than just "being involved in the design," it's important to act as a "connector."

From the architects to the operators, the whole process of creating a facility - if there is no function to manage the whole process, the concept will not be conveyed in a good way to every corner. That's exactly what we need to do. It's extremely important that someone clearly presents the vision and moves forward without wavering.
 

Nagayama:Exactly. If I don't do that, it will end up being half-baked. That's why I try to use words to make sure people understand, and I get people to help me.
It's important to treasure something that someone believes in and doesn't give up on. Don't throw it away halfway through, because you won't know until you give it a try.
 

The most sustainable approach is to make good products with care and use them for a long time.

Harayama: In preparation for the 2025 Osaka-Kansai Expo, the Panasonic Group's pavilion, "Nomo no Kuni," is being built by Nagayama and displays by NOMURA, Ltd. Looking at how the project is progressing, it's clear that the vision has remained unchanged.
 

Nagayama 's "Nomo Country" is a pavilion aimed at children, especially those of the alpha generation. The Japan Pavilion at the 2020 Dubai World Expo was a building with a strong system, with a façade that was also a structural element using geometry.
This time, we imagined a free-form shape that doesn't show much of a system. We imagined a shape that is not yet solidified, like children, and that can continue to change toward the future. So, just like the Dubai Expo, the façade itself is also a structure, but we made it so that the whole is made up of a collection of three-dimensionally curved motifs that evoke the theme of "infinite circulation." At first glance, it is an organic shape that is difficult to understand, but seems likely to continue to change toward the future.
 

HarayamaThe building looks like soap bubbles moving in the wind.
 

Nagayama: I wanted to create a space that would leave an impression on the children when they first came, making them say, "Wow!"
The concept will be conveyed in detail as we move into displays, but first I want to create a memorable experience in the architectural space. I myself have also remembered the whole thing I saw at the time, along with an impressive spatial experience. The Expo itself is limited to a period of six months, but I hope that the memories of that time will remain in the children's minds forever.

NOMURA team in charge of displays also said they wanted to continue the architectural theme and ideas, and we have been in constant communication with them, holding workshops together and discussing things while showing each other models.
 

Harayama: This time, the architecture and displays have created a very ideal relationship. Even so, I truly believe that we, as creators of architecture and spaces, need to think seriously about the future of our children.

The construction industry produces a lot of CO2 emissions, so reducing them is a major theme, and one way to do this is to make perpetual use of existing buildings, as I mentioned at the beginning. We also need to reconsider the nature of scrap-and-build from a future perspective.
 

Nagayama:When I design a building, I think about what I would like the future to look like. But in reality, we don't know what the future will bring. So I try to leave some space and think about architecture that is flexible.
I myself have renovated buildings with various histories, and even if they were once factories, I reinterpret them to be used for something completely different. There are people who want to preserve attractive buildings, no matter what they are, and the next generation will reinterpret them for something completely new. I think that's very interesting, and in the end, the most sustainable thing is to create something good in earnest and have someone want to preserve it.
 

HarayamaWe create buildings and spaces by seriously considering not only how they will be used in the present, but also their future possibilities. Even if people in the future come up with something completely different, they will still think that the buildings and spaces are wonderful and will continue to use them as they are. That's the kind of craftsmanship I want to do. Thank you for today.
 

(Recorded in May 2024)
Photo = ©Kazumi kiuchi