Sliding Nature By Panasonic – Fuorisalone 2014

At the 2014 Salone del Mobile, Panasonic will present its installation, Sliding Nature, made by Torafu Architects, taking on the theme of the connection in between nature and man, in between tradition and technologies.
Panasonic’s project will be presented in the Feeding new concepts for the city exhibit at the University of Milan and is inspired by a classic idea in Japanese architecture, through the use of characteristic sliding doors made from either paper or fabric named fusuma or shoji, that wants to establish distinctive spaces as nicely as a harmonious relationship between the interior and the exterior of the home.  TORAFU ARCHITECTS (a Japanese studio that is active in different fields of architecture, installations and interior style) has an idea from which will arise many various perspectives projected towards charming panoramas, but also supports the pleasant flow of air, like lowering lighting to one’s liking.

At the center of the Cortile della Farmacia, TORAFU ARCHITECTS studio has developed a structure that evokes the quintessential features of a traditional home, delimited by big sliding doors.  The doors, painted in pure white, almost render this developing abstract, as if representing the primordial thought of the residence a developing with evanescent outlines in stark contrast with its backdrop of medieval architecture.  Upon the gradually opening of the doors, the home’s ceiling lights up and the interior of the residence talks with the surrounding environment composed of LEDs, which resemble flowers spread out in a field, and the flickering of the lights beneath the portico, seeming to want to replicate the rhythm of a gentle sigh, producing an ever-altering scene.

SLIDING NATURE is a house that “breathes” and desires to establish a new and dynamic partnership with nature, examining new possibilities in creating flexible spaces and diverse lifestyles by making use of sliding doors, like the chance to develop distinct atmospheres employing diverse inflections of light.
The TORAFU ARCHITECTS’ installation breathtakingly transposes the new vision that Panasonic wishes to herald in and whose purpose is to integrate active and passive energy.  Active energy includes the use of devices – like solar panels, batteries for energy storage or energy-effective electric appliances – which combines with the use of passive power aiming at benefitting from nature, this via the design and style of housing facilities expertly built up and the employment of insulating supplies.
The sliding doors, exploiting the idea of passive energy, open upon the wonders of nature, enabling a pleasant breeze or warm sunlight to come in, while leaving heat and cold outdoors.  They are then combined with LED lighting (a portion of active energy management), on one hand aiming at power efficiency, but on the other hand providing the possibility to make the most of spaces by adapting the light to one’s personal needs or to various lifestyles.  All of this aids us to live in harmony with nature, generating use of the artificial power only when essential.

With this project, Panasonic wants to express its personal commitment to style houses that are able to highlight the beauty of nature, while pursuing objectives of energy efficiency by utilizing low-power electronics and technology in relation to renewable energy sources.
A space in which the private becomes public a property that opens up to the city a place in continuing transformation that, by way of sliding doors, encourages a new connection with nature.

In addition Panasonic will present at Loggiato Ovest, a charming space on the prime floor of the university, a series of goods devoted to the world of the kitchen and aimed at B2B.
The two installations are accordingly connected by a revival of the ancient “ingenuity” of Japanese tradition, combined with the need of supplying new options for the future. The Japanese giant has thus shown itself to be capable to meet the needs of each and every residence environment and to offer you options for every single kind of living space: from solar panels, to lighting and to sliding doors and housing equipments such as kitchen products.

TORAFU ARCHITECTS was established by Koichi Suzuno and Shinya Kamuro in 2004. The duo has employed architectural pondering to create a wide range of work, like architectural designs, shop interior designs, spatial styles for exhibitions, item styles, spatial installations, stage arts and filmmaking. Their working style has often been to initial pose a query to themselves, and then devise the simplest way to resolve it. For every single project, they place importance on leaving a “blank space” in which the receiver (audience) can take portion.

Panasonic Corporation is a worldwide leader in the development and engineering of electronic technologies and options for customers in residential, non-residential, mobility and personal applications. Because its founding in 1918, the organization has expanded globally and now operates more than 500 consolidated businesses worldwide, recording consolidated net sales of 7.30 trillion yen for the year ended March 31, 2013. Committed to pursuing new value by means of innovation across divisional lines, the organization strives to develop a better life and a better world for its consumers.

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Bridge-shaped Vacation Property Amidst Nature

The notion of this holiday property designed by Joeb Moore+ Partners Architects need to be observed via its geographical context. Positioned in Kent, Connecticut, the residence is set along a ridge that parallels the Kent Falls State Park. The Kent Falls are a series of cascades that form when the bedrock includes each challenging and soft layers that erode over time. A more current addition to this organic landscape are the man-produced wooden bridges constructed to ease circulation around the falls. These two elements are mirrored into the design of the house, as the house turns and spans along the landscape and down the hillside. The living-dining bridge is anchored into the hillside by two concrete structures at each ends. These structures have a double part: one particular is structural, they have the part of foundation, and the other a single is functional, they play the function of chimneys. The interior spaces interlock and the living and dining bridge, open on two sides, is turned parallel to the meadow and the valley. The openness of the spaces with each other with the vertical stair-light effectively create a gorgeous example of “camera lucida” or viewing chamber. These openings allow for a projection of the exterior situations such as views, climate and light on the interior living rituals.

Depending from where we look at it, the residence reveals 1 or two floors. Looking from the afar at the prime of the slope, one can see a wooden bridge that leads to a see-via glass and wood structure.

As one particular gets closer the home reveals its complete physique, displaying clearly the bridge structure of the living and dining area suspended more than an open room at the bottom.

This open room functions as an outdoors protected living/media space. The two concrete structures on the sides have integrated fireplaces that enable for this space to be livable even in colder weather.

The living and dining region have a privileged position on the bridge structure that has glass walls on two sides. The advantages of this position are a light flooded space and stunning views on the wild nature that surrounds the home.

A sculptural searching chair is placed in front of the windows that overlook the valley, inviting to contemplation.

The cooking and eating regions are laid out in such a way as to also advantage from light and views.

The bedrooms, set in the winds of the home that run perpendicular on the valley, also privilege light and views by means of floor-to-ceiling windows.

A distinct feature of the home are the light wells that bring the sky into the property and produce a felling of suspended living. This way, the light travels vertically by means of the staircase all the way down to the bottom level.

The light-effectively concept is exploited to the maximum in the double height modest bathroom. The leading height is painted bright red and it looks like a red tunnel that leads to the light.

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