Fab 40: Akasaka Shinichiro Atelier, Sapporo

Building with Inner Court House, characterized by its small upper floor garden.
(Image credit: press)

An architect with extensive experience of building in Japan’s dense urban landscape, Shinichiro Akasaka established his architectural atelier at the turn of the century and has since practiced and lectured from his base in Sapporo.

Interior of the building

(Image credit: press)

See more of Akasaka Shinichiro's work

His recent residential works in the city's suburbs include the white wooden polygonal Oresen House, the Topographic House, which features a small covered promenade, and his latest offering from 2009, the unusually window-less – following the client’s specific request - Inner Court House, characterized by its small upper floor garden.

The architect’s skills are certainly not confined in residential design; Akasaka has also worked on community and cultural projects, paying particular attention to material qualities as well as the human factor, throughout his work.

www.akasaka-atelier.com

Ellie Stathaki is the Architecture & Environment Director at Wallpaper*. She trained as an architect at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki in Greece and studied architectural history at the Bartlett in London. Now an established journalist, she has been a member of the Wallpaper* team since 2006, visiting buildings across the globe and interviewing leading architects such as Tadao Ando and Rem Koolhaas. Ellie has also taken part in judging panels, moderated events, curated shows and contributed in books, such as The Contemporary House (Thames & Hudson, 2018), Glenn Sestig Architecture Diary (2020) and House London (2022).