Associational Architecture

Our firm does not outsource construction to a single construction company. Instead, we have brought together artisans with unique skills and assembled our own construction team. The purpose is to open up a new horizon of creation, and to do so, we reexamine how each object is produced and link the insights to the production processes from different genres. This design philosophy exemplifies our critical stance toward the present-day tendency to focus solely on the end product, while the production processes and techniques behind it are hidden in a black box, narrowing the possibilities of creation.

In associational architecture, wide-ranging craft techniques are interconnected and unified, from NISHIJIN reflected—translucent glass made by combining Nishijin textile with cutting-edge FRP technology—to Nishijin textile, plastering, blacksmithery, gilding, Wilton carpet, mounting, and furniture.

Gold leaf fixing

A gold leaf so thin that it could be blown away is very carefully transferred by hand to the 3 mm wide stainless-steel flat bar welded to the framework.

Polished terrazzo

White cement and the green marble “serpentine” variety are mixed together, applied to the surface with a spatula and then are polished with a grinding machine. The feeling of the glossy polished concrete is juxtaposed to the rough expression of the rammed earth.

Rammed earth

It is built by assembling a mould from Japanese Cedar board and ramming down 3 different types of earth, red, medium coarse and fine sand earth every 10 cm. After being compacted down in the formwork, the mould is removed and resin is sprayed to limit the water absorbency of the surface.

Sumi-ink plaster

One of the transitional plaster-making processes is to mix Japanse sumi-ink with plaster and apply it. This is an extremely difficult finish which requires great ability from the artisan.

Stone fixing

A prepared slate (Genshoseki) of 15 cm in width is installed in order to harden the feel of the soft Wilton carpets covering the whole floor surface and to frame the edge of the floor.

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