Aoyama Office and Connel Coffee

Aoyama Office
The Sogetsu Kaikan in Minato ward, Tokyo, was designed by one of the pioneers of modern Japanese architecture, Kenzo Tange. It was constructed in 1977, and also known for housing Tange’s own offices on its 10th floor. It is primarily characterized by its half-mirrored curtain wall exterior, reflecting the greenery from the Akasaka Estate opposite, and its planar construction, allowing for a clear and unobstructed view by diagonally cutting through its L-shaped lines of flow.

Considering these characteristic features, we have sought to come up with “a design inspired by the exterior aesthetics”, rather than “a design based on interior functionality” so often seen in office buildings.

Firstly, the interior layout has been designed to fit in with the L-shaped lines of flow and diagonal shafts to as great an extent as possible, and the exterior curtain wall has also been replicated indoors. As the original aluminium window frames were special-ordered and their
dies and molds are now out of production, these aluminium window frames have been extruded anew.

We experimented widely with a variety of IR reflecting and paints in order to precisely recreate the colouring of the original half-mirrored exterior and sashes. And in order to accentuate the reflection of the half-mirror, the flooring material has been fitted symmetrically in relation to the curtain wall. The result is an interior design that allows one to get a strong sense of the character and form of the building as a whole.

Connel Coffee
A cafe situated on the 2nd floor of the Sogetsu Kaikan in Minato ward, Tokyo. Its original interiors are still intact from when they were designed by Kenzo Tange in 1977. It also boasts some very picturesque views of the Akasaka Estate, the Korekiyo Takahashi Memorial Park, and the stone garden created by Isamu Noguchi. In order to preserve these features, the walls and ceilings have been left untouched, no new wall fixtures have been set up, and only the floor and furniture have been redesigned. The “stream” flooring designed by nendo has been fitted throughout to smoothly unify the bi-partitioned space.

The sides of the counters have been fitted with same said material, and the flooring tile jointers on the counters and stairs have all also been aligned with those on the floor, so as to create and even greater sense of consistency within the room. Also, the tops of the counters have been finished in a gloss black to match the grey mirror finish of the ceiling.  In the lounge area, the original “tulip chairs” by Eero Saarinen have been repaired for reuse with a new matted black paint finish. The accompanying “tulip tables” have also been repaired, and their tabletops have been fitted with the same mirror material as the ceiling. 

The result is an interior design that brings out the innate properties and merits of the original space as it was first conceived. The café is chiefly managed by nendo, and inspired by our ever-growing collaborations with a wide variety of people, we have named it “connel”; a play on the Japanese word “koneru”, meaning “to knead” or “to mold”, as in molding a piece of clay. The word “nendo” itself means “clay” in Japanese. The café’s logo has been designed by taking the “n” from the nendo logo and bending it to form two “c”s. Similarly, the handles on our original mugs have been bent, or “kneaded”, by hand, giving each a unique shape. Also, the stirring sticks have been designed to stay upright on their own, and they have been made out of tin so that they gradually soften and change their form with continued use.