Woven Façade- Red aluminum creates a woven texture across the facade of Tokyo office block.

Japan based architectural studio Aisaka Architects created the woven facade for an office building in Toyko using a so-called "knitting method" that involved intertwining curving pieces of aluminium. The facade is constructed using sheets of red aluminum, resembling as a colorful woven basket.

Keiun is a four-storied multi-tenant building on a narrow site located between Shibuya and Harajuku, facing Fire Street (a fire station is located on the street) on the West, and Yamanote line and Miyashita Park on the East.

The original request of the owner was to make the façade colour brick red. The basic tone was chosen by taking into account "a request to keep the memory of the former building", "continuity with the neighboring scenery", and "the name of 'Fire Street.'"

The woven sheets of aluminium in five different shades of red, are designed to act as sun shades for the workers inside, while the red color is a reference to the brick building that previously stood at the space. The woven facade is also a reference to a traditional Japanese bamboo blind and serves as a bright and refreshing element to an otherwise conventional city block.

The color was broken down to five Japanese traditional colors, Akane-iro (madder), Ebicha-iro (reddish brown),Hiwada-iro (dusky red), Bengara-iro (Bengal red), and Kuri-iro (sorrel) (in part to show Japaneseness and sensitiveness to foreigners who will visit the Olympic stadium nearby) which then were rearranged in a manner to provide eye-catching effect and landscape preservation.

Project at a glance:
Project:	KEIUN BUILDING
Location:	Shibuya, Tokyo, Japan
Type:	Office Building
Client name:	Maruei,inc. Sachiko Sunahara
Architects:	Aisaka Architects
The size of the project:	429.75 m2
The cost:	187,500,000 yen
The start and completion dates:	February 28, 2014~October 29, 2014
special characteristics /materials used:	Bending Panel 2mm THK. Aluminum Plate PVF2 Finish

In the design process, special attention was given to insulation to sunlight and eyesight on the east and west elevations, both of which are front facades. For insulation, aluminum mesh is fitted to the ALC outer wall just like rattan blinds, to block the sunlight most effectively. The aluminum boards are made to be only 2mm thick, not to burden the structure with their curves allowing for expansion in summer and contraction in winter. They come to pieces so that maintenance can be done manually, and the difference in color of all adjacent pieces helps any partially replaced piece not to distinguish itself.


For the interior, all the horizontal ribbon windows are designed to stretch the full width in order to maximally take in the scenery of continued greenery in the park, providing physically and mentally comfortable work environment in the chaos of Shibuya.


"Keiun" comes from the posthumous name of the former owner, but it happens to mean "clouds in a sunset sky which is regarded as a propitious sign". It is hoped that this building, like a sunset mackerel sky, will make people on this Fire Street feel "auspicious" on the way to Yoyogi Gymnasium, an Olympic site in 2020.