Likhang Filipino stands on the former site of the PhilTrade Center along Roxas Boulevard in Pasay City, a landmark that once symbolized the Philippines’ export ambitions and introduced Filipino craftsmanship to international audiences. Originally inaugurated in 1979, the PhilTrade Center was conceived as a national showcase for Philippine exports, with its longitudinal form and sloping […]
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
Presented during Milano Design Week 2026 at Palazzo Gallarati Scotti, Poltrona Frau’s flagship store in Milan, the “True Over Time” Collection celebrates one of the brand’s most enduring values: authenticity. More than a matter of craftsmanship or material quality, durability is understood as a design’s ability to preserve its meaning over time, remaining relevant across […]
Within a two-building commercial complex organized around a central courtyard, an unexpected layout unfolds. The shops are small and quaint, uniformly sized, and directly face one another like apartment units. This is Atúa. Related Reading: Creative Placemaking: Designing Public Spaces that Reflect Shared Memory What used to be a functioning hotel in the early 1990s, […]
In a curated setting at the The Tile Gallery showroom, architects, designers, and media guests were transported into the immersive world of Italian contemporary lighting brand Lodes, where light illuminated the space through sculptural forms and innovative materiality. The Language of Light event presented a selection of Lodes’ established collections alongside new releases, revealing the […]
Once defined primarily by function, the bathroom is now becoming a space that reflects personal lifestyles. As broader design aspirations change in response, so do expectations of the products that shape these spaces. From customizable fixtures to touchless technologies, today’s bathroom solutions are increasingly designed around the way people live. COTTO’s KLIRR Collection highlights several […]
Many people only notice good design when it is absent. A faucet that splashes too far, feels awkward in the hand, or sits slightly out of alignment can disrupt a routine in ways that are subtle yet persistent. These are small irritations, but they reveal a larger truth: the objects used every day often have […]
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