Flexible residential tower, a perfect post-covid architecture

How does architecture change in the post-covid era? In these months we have been imagining and discussing how the pandemic has impacted and may change the way urban and domestic spaces are designed. Fueling this debate – for now largely theoretical – is an interesting case study in Tokyo, designed by YSLA Architects and recently completed. Lighthouse Tokyo is a tall building, initially conceived as a hotel but which, due to the total blockade of tourism in Japan, has been rapidly adapted into a residential structure.

This sudden transformation is made possible by the Tokyo studio's original idea: the nine levels of the tower are spacious, undivided, flexible spaces which can be partitioned if necessary with curtains or light dividers. To hierarchize the spaces, YSLA Architects reinterprets Japanese living culture in a contemporary way. At the centre of each floor is the Doma, an entrance and social area typical of traditional houses, which guests can enter in their shoes. Around this space is a raised wooden platform with the bedrooms, or rather a series of separable spaces in which futons can be arranged for sleeping. 

Another special feature of Lighthouse Tokyo is the ground floor, which has been converted into a coworking space where residents and neighbours - smart workers and freelancers - can stay all day long. The facade, punctuated by regular square openings, seems to rise up at an angle, inviting passers-by to come in and create a direct visual connection between inside and outside.