Project Name: JINS Kawajima

Location: Hiki District, Saitama, Japan

Design Team: Fumiko Takahama Architects

Total Floor Area: 199.69 m²

Completion: October 2023

Photography: Taichi Ano

Feature:

Project - Fumiko Takahama Architects has completed their latest project - JINS Kawajima Inter Store near Kawajima Interchange, creating a structure that harmoniously coexists with the surrounding tranquil rural landscape. This approximately 200-square-meter space skillfully balances unique architectural forms with natural environmental integration, establishing a distinctive experiential venue that transcends traditional retail design.

The design team, using a hip-roof structure as their conceptual foundation, meticulously crafted a space that coordinates with the surrounding environment, where each elevation of the building presents a different visual effect. The project's most striking feature is its innovative treatment of V-shaped incisions - these strategic apertures both showcase interior activities to the outside while drawing the external natural landscape into the interior space. This concept of interior-exterior fusion creates transparency while maintaining spatial integrity.

The interior architecture demonstrates a profound understanding of spatial hierarchy, with the roof shape directly reflected in the interior space, creating a dynamic environment where ceiling heights vary from 2 to 5 meters. The design team's careful consideration of customer experience is evident in the visual permeability, allowing customers to appreciate external greenery and sky while selecting eyewear.

What distinguishes the JINS Kawajima Inter Store is its successful combination of compact building volume with expansive planted areas. This design both avoids the industrial atmosphere common to surrounding large commercial facilities and provides space for visitor interaction. This project represents a significant achievement in retail design, transforming architecture into an "organism-like" organic presence, creating memorable external focal points while simultaneously developing dynamic and open interior spatial experiences.

This is not merely an eyewear store but a vivid lesson demonstrating how thoughtful design can transform everyday retail spaces into meaningful places that dialogue with their environment, establishing new standards for suburban commercial architectural design in Japan.

Design Team - Fumiko Takahama Architects, established in April 2012 (initially named +ft+/Takahama Fumiko Architecture Office) and reorganized in October 2024, has developed into one of Japan's innovative architectural design firms, renowned for its unique understanding of spatial composition and environmental integration. This Tokyo-based studio, located in Setagaya Ward and led by principal architects Fumiko Takahama and Tomohiko Komatsu, has gained industry recognition for its skillful fusion of precise spatial analysis with environmental sensitivity.

Fumiko Takahama (born 1979) completed her undergraduate studies at Kyoto University before continuing her education at the University of Tokyo Graduate School, where she also studied abroad at ETH Zurich and interned at Christian Kerez and HHF Architects. After obtaining her master's degree in 2007, she worked at the internationally renowned Herzog & de Meuron until 2012, accumulating rich professional experience. Her academic background also includes research positions at Kobe University and the University of Tokyo, as well as teaching positions at Kogakuin University and Shibaura Institute of Technology.

Tomohiko Komatsu (born 1989) graduated from the Faculty of Engineering at Tokyo University of Science and subsequently pursued a master's degree at the University of Tokyo Graduate School. During his studies, he undertook a world tour and interned at Aires Mateus. After obtaining his master's degree in 2015, he worked at Shigeru Ban Architects until 2021, before joining Takahama's studio in 2022 as co-director.

The firm focuses on diverse project types regardless of scale and purpose, encompassing new construction, renovation projects, interior design, furniture and lighting design, and urban planning. Their representative works include JINS Holdings Tokyo Headquarters, Christian Dada Singapore, and Giant House in Oiso, demonstrating their sophisticated understanding of spatial composition and material application.

The studio's design methodology combines rigorous architectural planning with keen insight into user experience, successfully balancing aesthetic quality with practical functionality. Their innovative understanding of architecture and sensitive attitude toward the environment have established their work in Japan's contemporary architectural field.