Standing on a former 1,200-square-meter pineapple plantation is CAW House, a Mid-Century Modern-inspired loft located just on the border of Silang and Tagaytay, Cavite. Designed by Rizal-based architecture firm Studio Tille, at first glance, the structure seems like a typical Mid-Century home, featuring a facade adorned with wood and stone cladding, a flat roof, floor-to-ceiling […]
Sendagaya Community Center: A Unique Communal Facility for Locals
Community centers provide essential spaces for people to gather and connect. The Sendagaya Community Center, located in the densely populated district of Jingumae in Shibuya, Tokyo, offers a unique and welcoming environment for local residents.
Kengo Kuma & Associates, with support from P. T. Morimura & Associates and Ejiri Structural Engineers, designed the building to prioritize community over commerce. They design this community center with the needs of the town in mind. In the end, they created a spacious location that can accommodate activities and events for the townspeople.
Circular Slabs in Functionality
The most eye-catching feature of the Sendagaya Community Center is its circular design. Its unique round features stack up on each other, with slabs in between floors adding a stabilizing definition to its look.
The circular stacks look uneven due to a combination of different factors. The lower floors occupy a larger footprint than the floors above it, each with their own balcony areas filled with plant life and greenery.
For the upper three floors, the design varies its look with the addition of large terraces. In an interesting aside, the play of volumes help break up the symmetry of the main structure. An addition expands from the main circular volume with its own terraces, providing even more room for more plant, crafting a welcoming environment for those who enter.
“The circular slabs create a generous gap between the building and the adjacent properties, allowing maximum light and wind to enter from the outside,” the architects shared.
A Softer Space for Everyone
The interior of the building lends itself to an openness that feels welcoming. A massive atrium in the middle runs from the ground floor to the rooftop, which allows for the thorough diffusement of light. White walls, marble floors, floor-to-ceiling windows, and wooden furniture combine to allow the light to bounce around the area with ease.
The circular design extends its use of wooden panels all across the building, from the atrium to the various multi-purpose rooms. These elements help create a cohesive theme for the building, but also provides a sense of flexibility and accessibility to its look and function.
The Sendagaya Community Center supplies its area with an approachable space open to everyone in the area. The design of its rooms and its open atrium accommodates a feeling of adaptability to suit the needs of everyone who lives in this community.
Related reading: Kakapo Creek Children’s Garden: A Sustainable Blend Of Space And Nature
In Malanday, Marikina, a simple home’s garage has been transformed into a studio-gallery called Espejo ni Pinggoy. Once considered by Pinggoy Generoso as a waste of space, it now serves as his favorite spot in the house, “When I renovated this part of the house, my main goal was to make it a very relaxing […]
In the heart of Midtown Cebu lies White Brick Studio, a creative hub where visual professionals gather to collaborate and elevate design standards across Visayas and Mindanao. Midtown, more known as a vibrant entertainment district, owes much of its growing network of creative spaces mainly to Mango Square Mall where White Brick is located, Atúa […]
What happens when furniture becomes a medium for preserving culture? At SoFA Design Institute’s iPAMANA: Honoring Filipino Stories Through Furniture exhibition, thirteen Furniture Design students explored how contemporary design can reinterpret Filipino heritage for a new generation. Presented on July 5, 2026, the exhibition challenged its emerging designers to look beyond convention, developing furniture rooted […]
In Parang, Maguindanao, a simple community pavilion is helping create space for dialogue, connection, and coexistence among Muslim, Christian, and Lumad communities. Known as The Banwag, the project by Studio Impossible Projects Inc. recently received the Gran Prix Malasakit Award, the highest honor at the 2026 Good Design Award Philippines, recognizing its embodiment of malasakit […]
Organized biennially by the Design Center of the Philippines, the Good Design Award Philippines (GDA) champions a distinctly Filipino approach to design rooted in malasakit (caring). It posits that good design goes beyond balancing form, function, and innovation—it creates meaningful solutions that respond to society’s most pressing challenges. The awards also advances the United Nations […]
Download this month's BLUPRINT magazine digital copy from:
Subscribe via [email protected]
Recommended Video
Tap to Unmute
Unmute
0:00
0:00