- 2022-2025
- Tokyo
- Iidabashi
Iidabashi, Tokyo. On the top floor of HAKKO BIJUTSU, a printing company trusted by many designers and photographers, we designed a space that combines a library, gallery, workshop area, and reception room.
When thinking about the intersection between printing and architecture, certain images come to mind: woodgrain flooring, marble-like tiles, wallpaper, carpets, films, and sheets. Look around, and it’s not uncommon to find yourself surrounded by printed building materials on the floors, walls, and ceilings.
At first glance, from a distance, it’s difficult to distinguish the real from the printed. Only when you look closely do you notice the halftone dots of the four types of ink—C (Cyan), M (Magenta), Y (Yellow), K (Keyplate/Black)—and realise that it’s printed. What initially appears to be walnut or cherry wood reveals itself as a collection of colour particles.
It’s like a sensation of magnification, increasing as you peer into printed materials—much like Powers of Ten. Couldn’t we incorporate that into our design?
As the space will also be used for printing checks and colour proofs, we applied translucent film to the window glass to reduce noise and colour bleeding, and chose a neutral grey for the walls. Rather than using regular paint for the grey, we mixed plaster with powdered CMYK colours and applied it thickly with a trowel, creating a texture similar to a sand-textured wall.
For C, M, and Y, we used powdered mineral pigments traditionally used in nihonga (traditional Japanese painting), and iron sand for K. With the walls coated in iron sand, prints can be attached with magnets. As the particles of C, M, Y, and K mix, the colour gradually shifts towards grey—much like dust on the floor, made up of tangled fibres in various colours, yet appearing grey.
The impression of the room is a simple, neutral grey, but when you look closely, alongside its rough-textured surface, vivid particles of colour burst into view like fireworks. Grey serves both as the backdrop and the subject of the space. Let it shift either way depending on the scene.
To accommodate potential future changes in how the space is run, we avoided constructing new walls. Instead, we created a character for each area solely through the layout of equipment, machinery, and furniture.
The stacked bundles of paper on wooden pallets, commonly seen in printing facilities, were repurposed as display stands and work tables. Placing artwork on top of them turns the space into a gallery; once you begin working on it, you find yourself in a workshop. If the top surface gets dirty, simply peel off a layer, and it’s as good as new. Each pallet weighs roughly 400 kg, but they can easily be moved with a manual forklift, a common sight in such environments. The space allows for easy use and rearrangement with simple, familiar gestures.
We are interested in creating spaces that build upon an existing culture, as seen here, whether through colour or paper. We aimed for a space that feels as if it could have existed in a linear yet twisted reality, in a possible but slightly distorted future.
Category：Printing Workshop
Architects：DOMINO ARCHITECTS
Graphics：centre.inc
Material Development：studio arche
Furniture Production : Karimoku
Construction：Flat
Photography：Gottingham
