Green Triangle – Aoyama 346, Contemporary Offices Japan, Japanese Commercial Building, Interior Architecture

Green Triangle – Aoyama 346 in Tokyo

Japanese Commercial Building Project in Tokyo, Japan – design by Ryuichi Sasaki + Rieko Okumura/ Sasaki Architecture

2 Jan 2018

Green Triangle – Aoyama 346

Design: Ryuichi Sasaki + Rieko Okumura/ Sasaki Architecture

Location: Minamiaoyama, Minato, Tokyo, Japan

Green Triangle – Aoyama 346

photo © Koichi Torimura

A three-story office and retail complex in the Minami Aoyama area of Tokyo, Green Triangle—Aoyama 346 is an interplay of multiple green triangles, which articulate the liminal spaces that intermediate between the interior and the exterior of the building. The design is also a response to the client’s request to create “an urban oasis” in the very heart of the city.

photos © Koichi Torimura

The project sits on a hilly, “flagpole” 750-square-meter site that is cornered by streets to the west, east, and north—the last one of which is a private driveway that is integrated into the overall design.

photos © Koichi Torimura

The design primarily exploits these site conditions by referencing the geometry of triangles that variegate in their materiality, hue, and density as they progress from the exterior into the interior.

photos © Koichi Torimura

A triangular, two-story void features potted plants that hang from above, folding in greenery into the building and offering visual connection with the adjacent main street through its glass curtain wall.

photos © Koichi Torimura

Retail and restaurant spaces are punctured by semi-open triangular balconies around the building’s corners.

photos © Ryota Atarashi

A triangular bridge connects the two zones of the complex, from which exposed beams intersect on the exterior to juxtapose the building with the landscape elements. In particular, the linear arrangement of mirror stainless steel, LED light, flexible board, and glass in the skylight hall showcases an infinite interplay of angular forms, where sunlight pours through the top light and the vertical slit and bounces off among the striated, reflective materials.

photo © Koichi Torimura

These elements, together with the surrounding landscape, are projected onto the lustrous tiles on the façade and the glass curtain walls, as well as the mirror stainless steel that lines the interior hallway, further reinforcing the idea of interpenetration.

photos © Koichi Torimura

Green Triangle – Aoyama 346, Tokyo – Building Information

Architects: Ryuichi Sasaki + Rieko Okumura / Sasaki Architectur
Architectural Team: Ryuichi Sasaki, Rieko Okumura, Mikio Sasaki, Kiyoshi Iwabuchi, Miwa Takeuchi, Mieko Watanabe, Akemi Nozawa, Anna Kwapień / Sasaki Architectur

Landscape Design: Takeshi Matsuo + Takeshi Mita/PLAT design
Graphic Design: Ryuichi Nambu/Nambu Design + Yoshinari Takahashi
Lighting Design: Kazuhiro Kawamura/sola associates
Structure Engineering: OZ.An + Rhythm Design

Mechanical & Electrical Engineering: Yuko Sakurai / Hezeraf
Facade Engineering: Standard
Contractor: Shin
PM: N Asset Tokyo
Client: Kikumoto

Site Area: 751.71 sqm
Building Area: 1136.75 sqm
Structure: steel structure 3 stories
Location: 3-4-6 Minamiaoyama, Minato-ku, Tokyo, Japan
Grand Opening: Spring 2015

photo © Ryota Atarashi

About Ryuichi Sasaki (Director CEO, Sasaki Architectur)
2018 German Design Award, Winner
2017 International Design Awards, Gold Winner
2016, 2017 Leaf Awards, Shortlisted
2015, 2016, 2017 Iconic Awards, Winner
2007 AR Awards for Emerging Architecture 2007 “Commended” (Architectural Review, London, UK)
2004-Present SASAKI ARCHITECTURE, Principal
1996–2004 Kumesekkei Co., Ltd., Tokyo, Japan
1994–1995 Asymptote Architecture, NYC, USA
1994–1995 Columbia University, NYC, USA, Master of Science in Advanced Architectural Design
1989–1994 Illinois Institute of Technology, Chicago, USA, Bachelor of Architecture
1970 Born in Tokyo, Japan

photo © Koichi Torimura