On Friday, July 25th, five third-year students from the Furniture Space Design Studio (Lecturer Takeshi Kondo's laboratory), Department of Faculty of Architecture and Civil Engineering Department of Housing and Interior held their final proposal session for a furniture-centered space creation project for a wooden house built approximately 37 years ago in Fukuchi Town, Fukuoka Prefecture.
This project proposes multi-functional spaces and furniture designs, including rooms with accommodation, a gallery reception counter, and a cafe counter, in the wooden house of Takatsu Toshiyo, an artist who lives in the town and works on CG art and illustrations.
The students first grasped the needs of Mr. Takatsu through interviews. They collected information and conducted preliminary research for the design plan, including visiting an old-style cafe with private lodging in the town and accommodation facilities in Oita Prefecture. Based on the perspective gained from these visits, they used blueprints and computer graphics to present a concrete design proposal that reflected Mr. Takatsu's passionate desire to "turn this place, which has been passed down for generations, into a place where people can connect with each other."
The proposal meeting was open to the public, and participants included high school students, their parents, and Fukuchi Town Hall staff. Participants also gave feedback by placing stickers on panels that they found attractive. Based on the proposals and feedback, the winning proposal was one by Haruka Akagi (Kumamoto Gakuen University High School), which was based on the theme of "Japanese Modern," and made use of the good qualities of traditional Japanese wooden houses while focusing on the materials and colors of the fittings and furniture.
In selecting the winning proposal, Takatsu praised the students' efforts and results, saying, "Each proposal, designed from a different perspective, was very appealing. We would like to see Akagi's proposal used as a base, with the other students' ideas incorporated to further refine it, and then move forward with the actual construction."
Akagi says, "In order to give shape to Takatsu's desire to 'cherish the connections between people,' I came up with this design by gathering various ideas from what I saw and heard during my preliminary research. This is my first time planning a design that will actually be constructed, so I am very pleased that my proposal, which I made many revisions to, was well received. The other members also came up with a variety of ideas from different perspectives to mine, so I will combine them to create the final design."
Going forward, detailed design proposals will be created and coordination with construction companies will proceed, with actual construction scheduled to begin after this autumn.
*The proposals from the five students can be viewed here.
[Department of Housing and Interior]
