The optics of the façade responds to the building program while collecting and sharing an expansive experience of sky’s presence within this dense urban context.
GUCCI GINZA
TOKYO, JAPAN
2006
BackImages
NIGHT TIME VIEW OF THE FLAGSHIP STORE
VIEW OF THE HARUMI STREET FACADE
VIEW OF THE LOW-IRON PRISM GLASS FACADE ELEMENTS
INTERIOR VIEW THROUGH THE FACADE
INTERIOR VIEW AT THE GROUND LEVEL
DETAIL OF THE CLEAR GLASS AND OUTBOARD DEEPLY MITRED ROLLER PATTERN GLASS
Description
Responding to the activity of Harumi Street on the front elevation, the roller pattern layer of glass is located outboard of the clear glass skin in an alternating pattern. The screen wall is suspended by a series of stainless steel and bronze rods, floating off the shear wall of the building exterior.
Along the longer facade facing a narrow street, the roller pattern glass is located inboard of the clear glass skin resulting in a language of light that is much quieter out of deference to the retail environment it encloses, moderating the quality of light and access to views.
The prismatic glass, designed specifically for Gucci, is a deeply cut surface of vertical prisms that produce an active, optically responsive surface. To address issues of excessive sun and resulting heat gain the prismatic glass, produced in a transparent bronze color, acts as a sunscreen for the front elevation. By focusing on the dynamic interface between interior and exterior worlds, a dynamic volumetric threshold emerges. Whether responding to the daytime sun or the frenetic artificial lighting of Ginza at night, the building acts as a quiet, luminous beacon, glowing much like a Japanese lantern.
Client: Gucci Japan
Architect: Obayashi Corporation