Kengo Kuma & Associates

Asakusa Culture And Tourism Center

Asakusa Culture And Tourism Center
© Takeshi Yamagishi

ASAKUSA CULTURE AND TOURISM CENTER

Kengo Kuma & Associates

ARCHITECTS
Kengo Kuma & Associates

LOCATION
Tokyo, Japan

CATEGORY
Cultural Architecture

AREA
234.13 m²

PROJECT YEAR
2012

PHOTOGRAPHS
Takeshi Yamagishi

Asakusa Culture And Tourism Center
© Takeshi Yamagishi
Asakusa Culture And Tourism Center
© Takeshi Yamagishi

Text description provided by architect.

In the corner premise of just 326㎡ across Kaminari-mon Gate, the building was required to accommodate plural programs such as tourist information center, conference room, multi-purpose hall and an exhibition space.

The center extends Asakusa’s lively neighborhood vertically and piles up roofs that wrap different activities underneath, creating a “new section” which had not existed in conventional layered architecture.

Asakusa Culture And Tourism Center
© Takeshi Yamagishi
Asakusa Culture And Tourism Center
© Takeshi Yamagishi

Equipments are stored in the diagonally shaped spaces born between the roof and the floor, and by this treatment we could secure large air volume despite its just average height for high-and medium-rise buildings.

Furthermore, the roofs not only divide the structure into 8 one-storied houses but also determine the role of each floor. First and second floor has an atrium and in-door stairs, creating a sequence from which you can feel the slope of the two roofs.

Asakusa Culture And Tourism Center
© Takeshi Yamagishi
Asakusa Culture And Tourism Center
© Takeshi Yamagishi

On 6th floor, taking advantage of the slanted roof, we were able to set up a terraced floor with which the entire room can function as a theater.

As angles of the roofs inclined toward Kaminari-mon and the heights from the ground vary from floor to floor, each floor relates differently to the outside, giving a unique character to each space.


Asakusa Culture And Tourism Center
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Asakusa Culture And Tourism Center
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Asakusa Culture And Tourism Center
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Asakusa Culture And Tourism Center
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Asakusa Culture And Tourism Center
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Asakusa Culture And Tourism Center
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Asakusa Culture And Tourism Center
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Asakusa Culture And Tourism Center
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Asakusa Culture And Tourism Center
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Asakusa Culture And Tourism Center
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Asakusa Culture And Tourism Center
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Kengo Kuma & Associates
T +81 3 3401 7721 F +81 3 3401 7778
Kengo Kuma & Associates
2 Chome-24-8 Minamiaoyama, Minato City, Tokyo 107-0062, Japan