Moveable Neon Walls Feature in Artist Hiraki Sawa's Studio
Designed by Ab Rogers as a flexible live/work space.
For his new studio in Kanazawa, Japan, Hiraki Sawa enlisted designer Ab Rogers to create a flexible space that could transform from an expansive studio to an open-plan home.
Firstly, Rogers and his team set about stripping the building back to its bare bones. Elements of its industrial past were revealed, from the concrete walls to copper piping. To ensure the building retains heat – and to make it liveable in cold winter months – they added silver wall insulation, with some areas featuring warm wooden panels.
Then, in response to the brief, the team devised a system of pivoting panels, which would enable the space to become either one huge room or three dynamic “chambers” flexible enough to suit a number of different scenarios. “[This could be] a workshop for making art, a place for viewing it, a social space where people can come together and so on,” Rogers says. “The panels allow light and air to flow freely and avoid the need for any additional structure.”
Each of the panels are colored in bright, neon hues of green, pink, red, and yellow – offering a burst of color in the otherwise raw, industrial setting.
A staircase leads down to a kitchen and dining space, which is based around a central, monolithic, multiuse table, which conceals kitchen apparatus; provides a dining table; and creates a worktop space. “The minimal nature of these objects in space acts as a provocation, inviting exploration and discovery and asking users to define how the space works best for them,” Rogers says.
Take a look around the studio above, and for more design, take a look at the debut collection from NYC-based design studio Monolith, named “Sanctuary”.
