TORAFU ARCHITECTS

This is a project to build a shelf on the exterior of Nanyodo, bookstore specializing in books on architecture in Jimbocho, Tokyo.
Specialist bookstore as they are, the project required a shelf which can not only let ordinary passers-by feel free to pick up a book from but also can be set up and removed easily since it is supposed to be used only during business hours.

Therefore we took note of grooves on the existing exterior wall and proposed a shelf that is only made up of a board that is inserted into the groove and hangs over from the wall. We determined the depth of the shelf in order that it can display the front covers of books. Slender and stout mizuito (a thread to measure a horizontal level or a base line of construction sites) on the front prevents the pages from being turned by the wind.

The shelf hanging over the street gives out the impression that the displayed books are floating on the street. Thus the whole bookstore blends in the street and becomes close to all those who come and go.