KDa's Open House wins the Grand Award in the Design For Asia Awards 2017

We are delighted to announce that our Open House project in Bangkok has won the Design For Asia GRAND AWARD - one of the most prestigious design awards in the world. Congratulations to the whole team here in Tokyo and Bangkok. Such an amazing project is not possible with out an amazing client so a huge thank you goes out to Barom Bhicharnchitrand the Central Group for such vision and trust. We look forward to receiving the award in Hong Hong in December.

PRESS RELEASE
1st November 2017
Tokyo

Klein Dytham architecture is pleased to announce that their project Open House, in collaboration with the Central Embassy team and a part of the Central Embassy complex in Bangkok, has won the prestigious Design For Asia GRAND AWARD. Mark Dytham said, ’We are delighted that Open House has been recognized by one of the most important design competitions in the world, Design For Asia, and being awarded the GRAND PRIZE is very special’. Barom Bhicharnchitr (Managing Director of Central Embassy) said, ‘The Central Group is extremely proud that Open House has received this important international award as it really reinforces that Bangkok is one of the Design Capitals of the world.’

Open House is located in the Central Embassy complex 50m above Bangkok. Within this vast 4,600sqm double-height interior, a village of spaces has been created each with a familiar human scale - restaurants, lounges, galleries, stores, pop-ups, co-working spaces and bookstore that all work seamlessly together. It is a space that anyone can feel at home in, spend all day in, relax and be inspired in. A place to hang out, a place to play, a place to catch up on work and a place to eat and drink.

Today's mega cities, especially in Asia, have turned their back on the people who visit, live and work in them. People are either working, shopping, eating or in transit between spaces. There is nowhere to pause, take a breath, sit or simply get back in control of your senses, especially in the stifling heat of Bangkok. Open House was seen very much as the antidote to this – it is an oasis, a getaway – a place where you can feel at home.

Since opening Open House has been a huge success, it is used by locals and tourists alike. Open from 10am to 10pm Central Embassy are now looking to extend opening hours. The most common social media comment is: ‘Why doesn’t every city have an Open House?’

The DFA Design for Asia Awards is the flagship programme of the Hong Kong Design Centre, celebrating design excellence and acknowledging outstanding designs with Asian perspectives. Since its launch in 2003, the DFA Design for Asia Awards has been a stage upon which design talents and corporations can showcase their design projects internationally. Other DFA Grand Award recipients have included NENDO and Apple

DESIGNART Launch @ Omotesando Hills

WOW! What a launch for DESIGNART in Tokyo on Monday 16th October!. A stellar crowd of over 1,400 people joined the party and PechaKucha Night in Omotesando Hills. Huge thanks to all the presenters who took to the stage and everyone who attended and made it such a buzzing atmosphere. Special thanks to the awesome DESIGNART volunteer team and everyone at Klein Dytham architecture and PechaKucha HQ for helping to put on such a wonderful night. 

We even made the front page of The Japan Times!

Klein Dytham architecture in WIRED UK

Continuing our run of great press recently, here is a piece in the UK edition of WIRED (also featured on their website) on the show-stopping Ginza Place. Grab your copy from Tsutaya Books at Daikanyama T-SITE today!

Klein Dytham architecture in Monocle Issue 103

KDa's Open House at Central Embassy, Bangkok featured in Monocle Issue 103, the design and property special edition. 

DESIGNART 2017 - 16-22 October 2017

The inaugural DESIGNART WEEK will be held in various locations around central Tokyo from 16th-22nd October 2017. 

DESIGNART 2017 is a revolutionary new design and art festival in Tokyo which will gather together professionals in design, art, fashion, food, technology and many more fields from around the world.

Combining functionality and beauty, DESIGNART is both the name of and the movement to spread a new concept that seeks to redefine the things that bring emotion to our lives through the everyday. 

A press conference was held at newly opened Trunk Hotel in central Tokyo this week to launch the event to the media and to creatives around the world. 

Mark and Astrid with fellow DESIGNART Founders at the press conference

DESIGNART will be and annual event leading up to the Tokyo 2020 Olympics - and beyond!

The opening event for DESIGNART will be a huge 1000+ person PechaKucha Night.

Area: TOKYO - Aoyama / Jingumae / Shibuya /Daikanyama / Roppongi
Website: http://designart.jp/
DESIGNART Committee Chief Manager: Takahiro Ikeda
Founders:
Akio Aoki / MIRU DESIGN
Shun Kawakami / artless
Hiroshi Koike / NON-GRID / IMG SRC
Okisato Nagata / EXS
Astrid Klein / Klein Dytham architecture
Mark Dytham / Klein Dytham architecture

Kumamoto Artpolis HOME-FOR-ALL Hanami and PechaKucha Night

A Kumamoto Castle pose with Kumamoto mascot Kumamon!

On Saturday 1st April we held a Sakura Festival at the Mashikimachi Techno HOME-FOR-ALL in Kumamoto Prefecture.

In 2016, in order to bring some colour and a sense of hope to the residents, Carl Zeiss Company donated seventy cherry blossom trees to the temporary housing complex. The festival was a celebration of this donation for all of the residents and for representatives from Carl Zeiss Company.

Attendees (L-R): Uesumi-san (Kumamoto Prefecture Civil Engineering Department Building Housing Department Architectural Section); Michiko Okano (Okano Building Design); Mark Dytham (Klein Dytham architecture); Astrid Klein (Klein Dytham architecture); Benjamin Dubuisu (Carl Zeiss Co.); Stefan Sacre (Carl Zeiss Co.)

Another special guest was Kumamon, the famous Kumamoto Prefecture mascot! He encouraged everybody at the party to dance...

From the very small...

To the slightly bigger!

Mark Dytham having a hug with Kumamon

Although the cherry blossom trees were not quite in full bloom, there was still some blossom and the residents enjoyed a traditional hanami picnic.

Photographers from PHOTOHOKU, an NPO set up to help replace family photos that have been damaged or lost in tsunamis and earthquakes, wandered around the picnic taking pictures of the temporary housing residents, while everybody enjoyed drinks and cherry blossom cakes. 

Professional photographer Brian Scott Peterson, co-founder of PHOTOHOKU, taking the picture of two residents. The elderly residents were more interested in his old-fashioned, large-format cameras, whilst the younger residents wanted to see the newer models.

After the cherry blossom picnic a special PechaKucha Night event was held at the Kumamoto Artpolis HOME-FOR-ALL. PechaKucha is a presentation format with only 20 slides and the presenter speaks for 20 seconds on each of them. The slides move on automatically so every presenter has exactly 6 minutes and 40 seconds to talk.

The PechaKucha Night format was devised by Astrid Klein and Mark Dytham in 2003 and is shared and supported by Klein Dytham architecture. There are now PechaKucha Nights in over 980 cities worldwide.

One of the main forces behind PechaKucha is the idea that creativity is not just for architects, designers and artists – it is for everyone. Everyone is full of creativity in their everyday lives and this creativity should be celebrated and shared throughout communities, with everybody having a voice.

At this event the presenters came from diverse backgrounds, from renowned architects to residents of the temporary housing who wanted to speak about how they have personalised their home.

Banzai!

From all of the HOME-FOR-ALL team, a huge thank you to Carl Zeiss Company for their generous donation and another huge thank you to the residents of Mashikimachi Techno HOME-FOR-ALL in Kumamoto Prefecture for being so welcoming and giving us such a great day!

Sushi Shaun

Sushi Shaun being enjoyed at Klein Dytham architecture's Daikanyama T-SITE

Shaun in Shibuya is part of a global project, in collaboration with Aardman Studios, to raise money for children through art. In 2016 thirty unique Shauns were designed by some of Japan’s leading creators, including Sanrio, Jun Ichihara and Ito Yoichi, as well as special Shauns designed by Nick Park and Peter Lord of Aardman studios in the UK.

 Klein Dytham architecture designed Sushi Shaun, to create a humorous and fun take on the world-famous Japanese soul food.

 Sushi Shaun was auctioned off on Sunday March 5th at Daikanyama T-SITE for a whopping ¥420,000! The money will be donated to the Japanese Red Cross Medical Center and Shibuya City Council of Social Welfare and used for Japanese children.

 http://www.shauninjapan.jp/shauns/index.html

Soma City Home-For-All Children's House wins Fukushima Architecture and Culture Award

Members of the Home For All board, including Toyo Ito, Riken Yamamoto, Yasuhiro Yamashita and Astrid Klein, display the certificate for the 33rd Fukushima Architecture and Culture Award

The Soma City Home-For-All Children's House has been awarded the Excellence Award at the 33rd Fukushima Prefecture Building and Culture Awards! On Thursday 26th January Yukinari Hisayama collected the award on behalf of Klein Dytham architecture who designed the building, in collaboration with Toyo Ito & Associates.

The judges praised the building for being a welcoming space for children. They stated that the warmth of the wood, woven in three layers, has been successful in creating a place for children to play, where their parents can have piece of mind that they are safe. This building is one that will stay in the minds of all of the children who will play here. 

On collecting the award Yukinari Hisayama thanked the judges and everyone involved in bringing this important project to completion. He said, "I hope that this space will continue to be filled with smiles and that local people will always feel that this building is part of their community."

For more information on the Soma City Home-For-All please visit the website: 
http://www.home-for-all.org/soma-city/ 

Design: Klein Dytham architecture in collaboration with Toyo Ito & Associates
Structural Design: Arup Japan
Construction Company: Shelter

The 33rd Fukushima Architecture and Culture Award trophy!