东京 Empath 办公空间——对比鲜明的开放性与私密性

这间办公室内部空间是专门为从事声音识别+情感分析人工智能技术的全球初创企业 Empath设计的。设计师将位于7层的这个两端带有窗户、进深很大的租赁场地简单地划分为两个相互对比的区域：一个对所有人开放的自由/公共空间和一个确保安全性的内部软件开发工作空间。会议室位于两者之间，可以根据情况划归给不同的空间使用。“开放空间”不仅作为员工的工作空间，还可用于各种活动，如会议、休息、公共活动和讲座。

An office interior designed for a global start-up firm Empath, who deals with AI technology of voice recognition + emotion analysis. Simply dividing a deep tenant space (at 7th floor with windows at both edges) into two, we created contrasting spaces; a free-address/common space open to everyone, and a secured working space for in-house software development. The meeting rooms are situated in between so that they can belong to both spaces upon situation. ‘Open space’ works not only as a staffs’ working space, but also for various activities such as meetings, breaks, public events, and lectures.

▼办公室开放区域概览，view of the open space in the office

▼夹在开放空间与封闭软件工作空间之间的会议室，the meeting rooms are situated between common space and a secured working space for in-house software development

一方面人工智能需要通过深度学习来不断优化。另一方面，人类的情感会尽可能（或想要）避免被优化。为了方便将这两个相互对立的课题联系起来的团队进行思考和深度的讨论，“开放空间”最好是一个意图不会过于明确的地方——有时候空间引来外面世界和其它的人/物，人们的感知会在这里发生变化。为了表现这是一家处理无形“情感”的空间，办公室最理想的状态是成为一个越简单越好的单一空间，而不是一个增添或拥有许多房间的地方。

AI, on one hand, aims for optimization by deep learning. And human emotions, on the other hand, escape (or want to escape) from optimization as much as possible. For the team who connects such two contradictory subjects, in order to contemplate and to deepen discussions, ‘open space’ would better be a space where its meaning would not become too determined – sometimes bringing in external world and others, a space whose perception would transform. And, in order to express the identity of a firm who deals with form-less ‘emotions,’ it would be desirable to realize it in a single room space as simple as possible, not by additive/multi-room spaces.

▼空间一角的小会议区域，small meeting space at the corner

▼通向内部封闭工作区的入口，entrance towards the interior working space

开放空间将内部的肌理都裸露出来，保持统一高度和宽度的重复的无框门采用相互对比的纹理。这些纹理不同的门以各自的方式反射着自然光线和人类/物体的活动。人在房间中活动、打开或关闭镜面门都改变了人对空间的感知。通过抽象而重复的门，建筑的基本元素成为空间主角，人们/环境的行为被最大化地捕捉。

Open space is designed as a bare textured space, with repetitive frameless doors, with the same heights and widths, made of contrasting textures. These differently textured doors reflect natural lights and humans’/objects’ behaviors in respective ways. Human movements across rooms, opening and closing mirrored doors, changes what one perceives as a space. By abstracting and repeating doors, a basic and fundamental element of architecture, which becomes the protagonist of the space, the behavior of people/environment is maximally perceived.

▼纹理不同的门以各自的方式反射着自然光线和人类/物体的活动，differently textured doors reflect natural lights and humans’/objects’ behaviors in respective ways.

▼重复的无框门保持统一高度和宽度，采用相互对比的纹理，repetitive frameless doors with the same heights and widths are made of contrasting textures

这种方式也是一次很小的尝试，设计师试图重新构想在人工大都市环境中，在一个典型的、倾向于封闭/独立的楼层中插入一个对人类、城市和环境开放的空间。

It is also a small attempt to reimagine a common space in the middle of artificial metropolis, in the middle of a typical floor which tends to be enclosed/self-sufficient – by inserting a space open to dynamisms of human, a city, and an environment.

▼细节，detail

▼平面，plan

Credits

Location: Shibuya, Tokyo

Client: Empath Inc. (

)

Produce: mui Lab (

https://mui.jp/#en

)

Design: tamotsu ito architecture office (

)

Construction: keykilt

Built year: 2018

Total floor area: 164 m²

All Photo Credit: Masaharu Okuda