Prize(s) Honorable Mentions
Lighting Design/Product Company KTX archiLAB
Lead Designers Tetsuya Matsumoto
Interior Design Company KTX archiLAB
Client Seigakusha Co., Ltd.
Photo Credits ©Stirling Elmendorf
Completion Date 31 January 2025
Project Location Osaka, Japan
Entry DescriptionPure Semicircles is a cram school in Osaka, Japan. The institution focuses on creating a leaning space which stimulates student senses to help them dive into their lessons while still providing a cozy and relaxing environment. These schools offer programs that the students learn through laptops or electronic tablets. This implies that there is no need for a traditional classroom where the teacher is on a stage-like blackboard setting.
As the school occupies a corner on the 4th floor of a mixed-use building, the individual desks are replaced by long counters along the windows. The middle of the room is also furnished with a long counter with seats on both sides and separated using greenery in the middle. The greenery secures some privacy for students and provides a more relaxing atmosphere. The white walls and ceiling offer a bright space that helps concentrating on the studies. Wooden blinds along the windows and the greenery in the space are set to counterbalance the brightness and create a cozy and relaxing atmosphere.
The reception space is a semicircle reflecting on a mirrored median wall to become a full circle. The ceiling is covered in a rippled stainless steel that extends the space further onto the third dimensions while being highlighted with a surrounding linear indirect light.
Sustainability ApproachThe intervention on this existing space was minimal where the ceiling is reused excpet for some small necessary parts. the wall construction was also minimal and existing walls were all kept in their original state. all windows and curtain boxes were kept in their original state.
