Taking inspiration from the fantastical worlds of Gulliver’s Travel and Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, Taka Shinomoto, architect of rhymedesign, has designed an apparent in Nagoya, Japan, which plays with scale.
Built to accommodate a young family with a child, the apartment incorporates elements that can be viewed from different perspectives. For adults, chairs are always to sit on, while for children, they could function as tables, desks, and counters. Looking up at the world from below, children find and experience the world in their own ways. As they physically grow, they also develop new relationships with the physical environment.
For the “Room for Small Gulliver”, three grey frames of different sizes are positioned within the floor plan. The largest is installed as a frame of the bay window facing the outside. The smallest is part of the bookshelf. The other is portable; it can be anywhere in the room. These elements have been created by rhymedesign to grow a relationship with the child as both his body and mind matures.
The nook where his body completely fits can soon become a casual seat. The gate to the closet will not remain as it is experienced today, when the children’s body feels it differently. The portable frame should turn to a counter from a secret capsule in the near future.
“As he grows, the functions of the three frames get renewed,” says Taka Shinomoto. “But I hope, in his memory, all versions of the three frames stay as they are and will be experienced.”
