Gallery in Rokko | ZEROKOBO DESIGN

Project Name : Gallery in Rokko
Location : Hyogo,Japan
Designer : Yunagi Miki
Lighting designer : Shingo Ishidou
Painteran artist : Ayako Fujimoto
Photographer : Yohei Sasakura

Presenting the Street with the Old and New
Gallery in Rokko

This gallery is located a three-minute walk from Rokko Station on the Hankyu Railway Kobe Line. It is situated along the axis of the slope that leads to the cable car station in the foothills of Mount Rokko.

I was simply captivated by the existing space made of brick when I first visited the project space upon receiving the commission. I felt as if I had wandered into a street in Manhattan. I had a clear idea of what the identity of the new gallery should be as soon as I saw that both the space of brick at the front and the space raised by one meter at the back beyond a set of interior stairs were clearly visible from the fronting street.

The idea I had was to present the street with a contrast between the old and new by preserving the brick space at the front, which represented the layering of history, and by turning the space at the back into a minimal “white-cube” gallery space.

Even while basing the design on a concept of dualistic contrast, I preserved the large iconic timber beams and brick skirting to also create a sense of coexistence and continuity between the two spaces. I did this with the aim of drawing passersby into the back of the gallery.

Despite the small size of the gallery, I wanted to also give character to the space leading to the office and lavatory at the very back. I did this by making a curved wall to guide visitors into a tightened space where they would be able to enjoy the surprise of discovering further small works of art.

It is my hope that the space for art will permeate out into the street from the small gallery and serve as a beacon for passersby and for the city of Rokko.