Golden A' Design Award Winner 2025
Horizontal bands of cool pearl-white aluminum cladding articulate the commanding presence of Nobuaki Miyashita's Stacked Crystal Form Office and Factory, where the architect orchestrates a sophisticated dialogue between industrial function and crystalline elegance through the masterful deployment of stacked horizontal planes that ascend the composition in a dynamic stepping configuration. The eye encounters first the expansive horizontal mass of the lower factory volumes, their surfaces clad in precisely spaced ribbed aluminum panels that create a rhythmic linear texture reminiscent of light refracting through layered quartz formations. The compositional architecture employs an asymmetrical balance, with the tower element positioned toward the right third of the frame, its cantilevered floor plates projecting forward in a dramatic cascade that transforms utilitarian office space into sculptural gesture. The chromatic palette demonstrates remarkable restraint, orchestrating subtle variations within a narrow tonal range: titanium white surfaces catch zenith illumination to produce passages of pure luminosity, while shadowed recesses beneath projecting slabs reveal cooler gray-blue undertones suggestive of glacial depth. Horizontal bands of dark-tinted glazing punctuate the composition like obsidian striations, their reflective surfaces absorbing and returning fragments of cerulean sky. The spatial construction operates through bold overlapping planes that establish clear foreground, middle ground, and atmospheric background relationships, with the stepped tower creating a perspectival thrust that draws the viewer's gaze upward along its crystalline ascent. Ground-level transparency achieved through generous glass curtain walls establishes visual permeability at human scale, while the warm amber glow emanating from the covered entrance offers chromatic punctuation against the otherwise cool material vocabulary. The verdant foreground landscape, rendered in fresh spring greens ranging from chartreuse to viridian, provides essential chromatic relief and grounds the composition through organic counterpoint to architectural precision. Atmospheric conditions present optimal clarity, the high-key daylight revealing every nuance of surface articulation while casting precise shadows that emphasize the volumetric stepping of stacked forms, establishing an aesthetic register that speaks simultaneously to rationalist modernist traditions and contemporary parametric sensibilities.
This project establishes a smart factory integrating headquarters and plant functions adjacent to the existing research facility. Inspired by stacked crystal chips, the design symbolizes Daishinku's products in architectural form. This motif extends across the exterior and interior, creating an open, continuous workspace that embodies the company's identity while enhancing connectivity. The lighting plan reflects the angles of crystal cutting, integrating this distinctive feature into the spatial design to create a dynamic and functional environment.