"We're no longer chasing the young consumer," says Dytham. He explains that the average age of the population in Japan is 50 and includes people with plenty of free time and a disposable income, meaning that there is still a "very strong future for books" as well as tablets.

Designed for Japanese entertainment brand Tsutaya, Daikanyama T-Site comprises three buildings with T-shaped elevations that subtly reference the logo of the brand. Hundreds of interlocking Ts also create a lattice across each of these exterior surfaces. "The client wanted a very stong branding on the building, without branding it," says Dytham, and describes how they achieved this "at two different scales".

Louvred steel bridges link up with a "magazine street" that stretches across the first floor of each block and is one of the details designed to encourage "social retail". Dytham explains that: "People don't get a chance to go and socialise, they don't get a chance to meet somebody and this third space is becoming incredibly important."

Dytham, who's based in Japan, finishes the discussion by talking about the continuing energy crisis in the country 18 months on. He describes how the population were able to instantly cut down their energy usage and declares it possible that "everybody in the world can reduce their energy consumption by 20 percent."

Read more about Daikanyama T-Site in our earlier story, or see more stories about Klein Dytham Architecture.

We've filmed a series of interviews with award winners at the World Architecture Festival, which we'll publishing over the next few days - see our interview about the World Building of the Year with architect Chris Wilkinson.

See all our stories about WAF 2012 »

Photography is by Nacasa & Partners.

The post "There's a very strong future for books"
- Mark Dytham on Daikanyama T-Site appeared first on Dezeen.

"The T idea for the project came to us during the initial briefing session with the CEO of Tsutaya," architect Mark Dytham told Dezeen. "He was hoping for an iconic building, branded in a non-branded way, without having to rely on signage."

The little shapes also combine to create larger Ts on the elevations of the three buildings that make up the complex.

The grid created by the shapes lines up with the structural systems, and Dytham explained how this helped them to "determine the general layout" of each building.

This layout was also influenced by the locations of several large trees, which the buildings nestle between.

Louvred steel bridges link up with aisles on the first floor of each block, which the architects refer to as the "magazine street".

As well as sales areas for books, CDs and DVDs, the store also contains a convenience store, a lounge and cafe.

Other projects we've featured by Klein Dytham Architecture include an airport lounge for Virgin Atlantic and a combined home and salon.

See more stories about Klein Dytham Architecture »

Photography is by Nacasa & Partners.

Here's a project description from Klein Dytham:

T-Site, Daikanyama, Tokyo

Klein Dytham architecture won the T-Site commission in a 2 stage invited competition. 77 architects were invited to submit proposals and KDa made it to the final selection with Kengo Kuma, Atelier Bow Wow, Mikan Gumi and Kumiko Inui, before winning the project in the final round.

KDa’s new Daikanyama T-Site is a campus-like complex for Tsutaya, a giant in Japan’s book, music, and movie retail market.

Located in Daikanyama, an up-market but relaxed, low-rise Tokyo shopping district, it stands alongside the legendary Hillside Terrace buildings designed by Pritzker Prize-winning architect Fumihiko Maki.

Slotted between large existing trees on the site, the three pavilions are organized by a “magazine street” that threads through the complex, blurring interior and exterior.

Tailored particularly to over-50 “premium age” customers, Tsutaya’s normal product range is complimented by a series of boutique spaces carrying carefully curated product ranges.

Other facilities include a café, an upscale convenience store, and the Anjin lounge, where visitors can browse a library of classic design magazines and books or peruse artworks for sale as they eat, drink, read, chat, or relax.

Externally, KDa’s characteristic wit emerges in subtle ways – the perforated screens of the façade are formed from the Ts of the Tsutaya logo, and much larger T-shapes are disguised in the building plans and elevations.

Architecture and interior design: Klein Dytham architecture
Art Direction: Tomoko Ikegai
Architectural Consultant: RIA
Structural Engineer: Structured Environment
Main Contractor: Kajima Construction

Ground floor plan - click above for larger image

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Klein Dytham Architecture appeared first on Dezeen.

The Librairie La Fontaine is located in the SANAA-designed Rolex Learning Center on the campus of science and technology university EPFL (Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne) in Switzerland.

Kawamura-Ganjavian created curling bookcases in response to SANAA's building, which features undulating floors and ceilings pierced by cylindrical atriums.

Each shelving enclave has a different size and configuration, with some encircling banks of seating and others wrapping more concentric shelves.

Little book stands and trestle tables are also dotted around the store.

The bookshop was completed at the same time as the Rolex Learning Center in 2010. Read more about the building in our earlier story. We've also featured Kawamura-Ganjavian on Dezeen before - check out their exhibition stands made of sticks covered in velcro here.

See more stories about bookshops on Dezeen »
See more stories about books on Dezeen »

Above: Rolex Learning Center by SANAA

Photography is by Anne Laure Lechat.

Here's some more information from Kawamura-Ganjavian:

Librairie La Fontaine is a historic bookstore inside the EPFL campus in Lausanne. Its venue moved in 2010 to the new Rolex Learning Centre designed by SANAA architects.

Taking into consideration the architectural language of the host building the bookstore is organised around 5 "pods" that articulate thematic categories. All pods are slightly different from each other, housing books or magazines on their outside and inside, and even a cozy reading cocoon.

The space moves away from a conventional aisle-and-bookshelf rigidity and creates a fluid environment with a rich variety of spaces where the customers feel at ease to explore and roam idly. The pods are as well the subtle source of indirect illumination. The project is enhanced with pieces of furniture (tables, benches, bookstands, dustbins, desk dividers) designed by the authors.

The complex geometry of the pods was made possible thanks to a smart combination of state-of-the-art numeric control manufacturing techniques and advanced Swiss cabinet-making skills.

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and NOR architectes appeared first on Dezeen.

This small bookshop in Bratislava, Slovakia, has a climbing wooden floor that allows it to double up as an informal auditorium.

In the daytime these chunky wooden steps provide seats for anyone having a leaf through the books, while during events and talks they can be filled with rows of spectators.

Completed by Slovakian architects Martin Jančok of Plural and Aleš Šedivec of Totalstudio in 2010, the bookshop also contains a coffee shop at the floor’s peak.

A staircase here leads down to staff rooms and storage areas that are concealed below.

One of our most popular stories of all time features a bookshop inside a former church - see what you think here or see all our stories about bookshops here.

Here's a little more text from the architects:

Bookshop and coffee bar.
2010, Bratislava, Slovakia

How can a small bookshop compete within a network of firmly established booksellers? What can it offer to customers? How can it draw attention?

Our aim was to create a flexible space that would not only sell books but would also be capable of facilitating various collateral events such as projections, readings, minor concerts, workshops, etc.

Two focal points of the bookshop are placed at both ends of the longitudinal space.

A checkout is next to the entrance and a coffee bar is on the opposite side on an original elevated gallery.

Both levels are connected with cascades which serve as an auditorium during collateral events and allow customers to sit, read, relax or communicate through regular opening hours.

Books are stored in long shelves along both sides of thebookshop. By this means a clear oragnization and a monumental effect is achieved. New titles and bestsellers are displayed at several mobile stands.

The permanent part of the program - storage, deposit, office and lavatory – are placed under the gallery and accessible via a staircase at the edge of the coffee bar and cascades.

Authors: Martin Jančok (Plural), Aleš Šedivec (Totalstudio)
Graphic design: Marcel Benčík
Client: Ladon, s.r.o.

Structural engineering: Geostat
Carpenter: Treeman
Total floor area: 170m²

The post Alexis by Martin Jančok and Aleš Šedivec appeared first on Dezeen.

This stepped cardboard installation was designed and built by Berlin University of Arts students to display their own work and meandered around a gallery at their summer show.

The UdK Bookshop was made from six hundred corrugated-cardboard panels that were cut, folded and glued to create a lattice structure strong enough for sitting on.

The installation was bent into sweeping curves and could be compressed to a tenth of its full length.

Students Dalia Butvidaite, Leonard Steidle and Johannes Drechsler won the competition to design the installation, which they built in collaboration with the rest of the participants.

At the end of the four-day summer show the installation was auctioned off.

All photographs are by Reiner Hausleitner.

Click above for larger image

Here's some more from the designers:

The UdK Bookshop was created in 2009 by a group of architecture, art and graphic design students wanting to provide an interdisciplinary platform for the works of students and professors, which until then had been missing at the yearly open house. During the three day event thousands of visitors have the opportunity to explore the works of students from art and architecture to graphic design and fashion and much more.

The Bookshop was conceived with the goal of highlighting works from throughout the university in a central location, while offering a program of events including readings and informal discussions among professors from different faculties. This year saw artists and UdK Professors Olafur Eliasson and Gregor Schneider coming together to talk about "Installations and Their Spaces" and media theorist Siegfried Zielinski with Graphic Designer Günter Karl Bose on "The time of the Book."

The design of this year's Bookshop was selected from the entries in a student competition, and was subsequently built by the competition participants.

In the winning design, cardboard was chosen as the main material due to its flexibility, stability, affordability, sense of impermanence, lightness and last but not least, its recyclability.

Click above for larger image

Six hundred 2,6 by 1,3 meter corrugated cardboard panels were cut, perforated, folded and glued together to form a massive block, which in turn was pulled apart like a giant accordian to achieve its final shape. Adaptable to any space, the entire shelving unit can be easily folded down to a tenth of its ultimate length for storage or transport purposes.

The cardboard itself, despite being light in nature, provides enough rigidity not only for the books, but also for the lowest shelf, which doubles as a bench for events, a place to display oversized objects, or simply to sit comfortably while leafing through a book.

The originally rectangular room was transformed into an unique space with the shelving units serving as background and space-defining elements. By cutting away the corners of the rooms, enough storage space was ensured for the inventory.

At the end of the four days, the shelving unit was auctioned off, ensuring funding for more publications as well as the continuance of the Bookshop in the coming year.

Organisation : Florian Hennig, Eric Zapel
Professor : Florian Riegler
Assistants : Dipl.Ing. Jeanne-Françoise Fischer; AA Dipl. Karoline Markus
Design : Dalia Butvidaite, Leonard Steidle, Johannes Drechsler
Manufacturing : Fabian Wolf, Tobias Benjamin Bosse, Dalia Butvidaite, Eva Susanne Roll, Doerte Boeschemeyer, Johannes Arolt, Marie Poth, Leonard Steidle, Lisa Josephine Goethling, Johannes Drechsler, Karl Naraghi, Anja Schumacher, Paulo Felipe Bellani Mendes, Anne Bruschke, Irina Hoppe, Daniel Ripplinger, Anna Derriks, Georg Hana, Lena Wimmer, Paul Greschik, Johannes van Suntum, Dulcinea Gomes, Eric Goesswald, Anastasia Becker, Edem

See also:

.

Cardboard Cloud installation by Fantastic Norway	Flatform 322 by Toby Horrocks	Dezeen’s top ten: cardboard projects

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Leonard Steidle and Johannes Drechsler appeared first on Dezeen.