Steel and concrete steps cut through facade of Stairway House by Nendo

A huge faux staircase interrupts the floor plan of this house in Tokyo, which design studio Nendo has created for three generations of the same family.

Stairway House is situated in a quiet residential pocket of Shinjuku, a ward of Tokyo known for its neon-lit buildings, bustling streets and vibrant nightlife scene.

The three-storey home is designed to accommodate three generations of the same family. It replaces a smaller, timber-framed property that had become overshadowed by surrounding apartment buildings.

Nendo constructed the new house in a brighter spot at the northern end of the site, being careful to preserve a mature persimmon-fruit tree that was planted by previous occupants.

The more accessible ground floor has been designated to the older couple in the family and their eight pet cats, while the upper two floors of the house have been given to the younger couple and their child.

To prevent the two parties from feeling isolated in their respective living quarters, the studio decided to erect a sweeping staircase-like structure that unites every level of the home.

It runs from the back garden, through the glazed rear facade and right up to the top floor.

Steel has been used to craft the portion of the structure that's inside Stairway House, while concrete was used to make the outdoor steps.

"Not only does the stairway connect the interior to the yard, or bond one household to another, this structure aims to expand further out to join the environs and the city," Nendo explained.

A small playroom for the cats and bathroom facilities are hidden within the structure, as well as an actual staircase that can be used to access the home's higher floors.

The external steps – including those in the gravelled garden – have been dotted with an array of leafy potted plants. Nendo included this feature to evoke the feel of a greenhouse.

The steps also serve as a comfy, sun-soaked lounge spot for the cats throughout the day.

Some of the glazed panels in the gridded facade can also be pushed back to fill the interior with fresh air.

A restrained approach has been taken to decorating the rest of Stairway House.

The majority of the furnishings, such as the breakfast island in the kitchen and study desk, are jet black.

Tall storage shelves are integrated into the white walls, so that inhabitants can neatly stow away their belongings.

Even the front facade of the home has been kept simple: it's completely windowless.

Nendo is a multidisciplinary design studio with offices in Tokyo and Milan. Recent work includes a kinetic installation made up of blossom-like raindrops and a clock that morphs into the shape of a perfect cube twice a day.

Stairway House is not the only project to make faux stairs a focal point – last year, Beta Ø Architects inserted a dramatic stepped sculpture into the central void of a home in Madrid.

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Derek Jarman's Prospect Cottage saved by Art Fund campaign

UK charity Art Fund's crowdfunding campaign to save artist and filmmaker Derek Jarman's cottage in Dungeness from being sold to a private owner has been successful.

The Art Fund has raised £3,624,087 to purchase Prospect Cottage in Kent, which was at risk of being sold to a private individual, from the Keith Collins Will Trust.

The house will now be taken care of by arts organisation Creative Folkestone, which will organise a permanent public programme and conserve the building including its renowned wild garden sown on the beach shingles.

Derek Jarman's Prospect Cottage has been saved from falling into private ownership

For the first time, the public will now be able to view the interior of the house, which was a source of inspiration and creative hub for the artist who bought it in 1986.

Jarman's archive of notebooks, drawings and sketches from the cottage will be on a long-time loan to Tate Archive and available to see at Tate Britain.

The black cottage is in Dungeness was the former home of artist and filmmaker Jarman

According to Art Fund it is the largest-ever arts crowdfunding campaign, receiving over 8,000 donations from the public as well as funding from charities, foundations, trusts and philanthropists.

"Securing the future of Prospect Cottage may seem a minor thing by comparison with the global epidemic crisis which has recently enveloped all our lives," said Art Fund director Stephen Deuchar.

"But Derek Jarman’s final years at the cottage were an inspiring example of human optimism, creativity and fortitude battling against the ravages of illness, and in that context the success of this campaign seems all the more apposite and right for its time."

Jarman bequeathed the cottage to Keith Collins when he died in 1994

Jarman moved to the house near the Dungeness nuclear power station after being diagnosed as HIV positive. He passed away from the illness in 1994 and bequeathed the cottage to Keith Collins, his close companion, who died in 2018.

The house is where Jarman shot his film The Garden, and his remarkable own garden at Prospect Cottage was the subject of his last book, Derek Jarman's Garden.

The cottage is located near Dungeness power station

Since it launched on January 22, the campaign to save the cottage received donations from 40 countries around the world, with artists and advocates, including Peter Doig, Wolfgang Tillmans and Tilda Swinton, donating artworks and experiences to help raise the money.

The National Heritage Fund gave £750,000. The Art Fund and the Linbury Trust also supported the campaign with grants of £500,000 and £250,000, respectively. Artist David Hockney made a "substantial personal donation," Art Fund said.

Prospect Cottage will now be looked after by Creative Folkestone

Dungeness is home to a number of interesting architectural holiday homes, including the Black Rubber Beach House and a world war two pumping station.

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C+ Architects perches glass restaurant above dramatic mountain landscape

Floating Island Restaurant by C+ Architects features a glazed dining room on stilts cantilevering from a hillside overlooking mountains in Chongquing, China.

Originally designed for the inaugural 2019 Wulong Lanba Land Art Festival, the restaurant is described by its creators as part-architecture, installation and exhibition.

A footbridge with glazed balustrades leads from a winding mountain road to the venue.

To enter Floating Island Restaurant visitors pass through a glass-walled waiting lounge that looks back out across the road.

"The behaviour of people crossing the bridge is more like a process of approaching the landscape and the mountains, paving the way for the subsequent experience of entering the interior of the building," said C+ Architects

While this guest area sits on the ground at the top of the slope, the rest of the structure extends outwards, supported by two concrete columns and ending in a seven-metre cantilever.

C+ Architects designed Floating Island Restaurant as a blend of dining and a dramatic journey to the views.

"Chef Gilles Stassart specialises in blending food with social games to explore the relationship between people," explained the studio.

"Through several exchanges with Gilles, [we] clarified the design concept: using the architecture as a medium, with the help of the terrain, to guide the diners to experience the surrounding natural landscape while tasting the food."

Once inside, two passages along either side of a central kitchen block create moments of compression.

The passages open out to reveal the dramatic dining space, with a large 16-seat table at its centre.

"The sight of the diners, from the familiar scene of the park, through the transition of the middle passage, is finally settled in the pure valley landscape," added C + Architects.

"The central space of the restaurant is composed of functions such as the operating table, storage room, bathroom and equipment room, which also plays a role of blocking and diverting sight lines."

The external cladding also works to execute this concept of a grand reveal.

A central portion of the restaurant covered with a white metal grille that offers glimpses outside, before giving way to a fully-glazed end section.

This grille also creates a play of views from the outside, revealing those inside when viewed straight-on while appearing opaque from an angle.

"The aluminium alloy material on the facade can reflect the change of the weather to a certain extent," said the studio.

"From sunrise to dusk, the exterior colour of the building changes with time, and even merges with the white mist."

White finishes and a wooden floor have been used to create a minimal interior, animated by the pattern of light and shadow created by the metal cladding.

While the building was designed for the festival, it will remain open for reservations.

C+ Architects was founded by Cheng Yanchun and Li Nan in 2014.

A similar concept of blending dining with an experience was recently used by Studio Duncalf in their designs for the Alchemist restaurant in Copenhagen, featuring atmospheric, planetarium-style scenes projected on the ceiling.

Photography by Gao Tianxia

---

Project credits:

Design firm: C+ Architects

Architect in charge: Cheng Yanchun
Project team: Bo Chen, Cao Pengfei, Chen lvming, Liu Jianlong
Structural design: Zhang Jinbin, Tang Lida

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Dezeen Weekly features news of the world's first online design festival

The latest edition of Dezeen Weekly includes news of the world's first online design festival, Virtual Design Festival, and a debate on how our homes will change once the coronavirus pandemic is over. Subscribe to Dezeen Weekly ›

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Protestors light up New York skyscraper with "Send more ventilators" projection

Art-activist group The Illuminator has protested the US government's response to the coronavirus pandemic by projecting calls to action onto a New York skyscraper.

The protest, which took place last Saturday night, aimed to highlight a number of issues faced by New York residents, including a lack of medical equipment, expensive health care and rent payments.

"Free care for Covid", "Healthcare for all", "DC: more aid to NYC" were among the other phrases illuminated in bold white text on a Manhattan skyscraper.

"These are not radical demands," said The Illuminator member Emily Andersen.

"These are requests for basic needs, needs that must be fulfilled if we are to survive not only this current outbreak, but the fallout that is soon to come after."

Measuring around 20-metres wide, the bold white messages lit up the top of a high-rise not far from the Empire State Building. The group said the projector was in a nearby apartment.

The Illuminator said the protest was aimed at officials in the local, state, and federal government, with the aim to draw attention to the crisis in New York. Over 1,000 people have already died in New York City from coronavirus, while New York State has reportedly nearly half of the country's cases.

The "Cancel the rent" projection follows a call to suspend rent payments for people who have lost their jobs due to the economic downturn or are unable to work as they are sick.

Many of the phrases were focused on the federal government in Washington DC, which had signed a $2 trillion (£1.62 trillion) stimulus bill to help stabilise the economy one day before. The package includes cheques for Americans, expanded unemployment benefits and aid for small businesses.

"Send more ventilators" and "DC: more aid to NYC" follow discourse between New York governor Andrew Cuomo and The White House. Cuomo has said that New York will need 30,000 ventilators in the coming weeks to help those suffering from the disease but the amount has been questioned by president Donald Trump.

"The system we have been operating in has exacerbated the severity of this crisis, and we cannot go back to business as usual," said the The Illuminator's Andersen.

"Business as usual is killing us," she continued. "It is killing our friends, it is killing our families, and it is killing our future. We need change. We need federal aid now – help with medical supplies, testing, rent and debt relief."

The "Free care for Covid" and "Healthcare for all" projections called for financial aid for health insurance companies and employees to help with payments to cover the healthcare of the sick.

The protest also included a series of phrases that relate to ways to help mitigate the spread of the virus, such as "Wash your hands" and "Don't touch your face".

As New York's coronavirus crisis intensifies, a number of temporary hospitals have already been created in the city. They include a field hospital comprising 68 beds in white tents opened in Central Park yesterday, a Navy hospital ship docked on Manhattan's West Side and the Javits Convention Center.

Architects across America including New York's BIG have also teamed up as part of an open-source project to manufacture face shields to protect hospital workers treating coronavirus patients.

Read today's architecture and design coronavirus briefing here and keep up to date with the rest of our coronavirus coverage here.

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