Tato Architects' giant blue-green semicircular table reorganizes Kyoto apartment

In Kyoto, Japan, Tato Architects, under the guidance of Yo Shimada, has successfully renovated a previously unoccupied unit within a municipal housing complex. A striking 3.6-meter-diameter semicircular table in blue-green redefines the living area. This renovation is part of a larger effort involving eight universities in Kyoto, aimed at converting vacant apartments into housing for welfare-sector employees, with each architecture program tackling one unit. Graduate students from Yo Shimada Laboratory at Kyoto City University of Arts executed the project. Non-structural partitions were removed to create an open layout, while domestic functions are integrated into compact plywood volumes. The main living space, exceeding 20 sqm, features a uniform white finish, highlighting the table as the focal point. The essential areas—bedroom, kitchen, toilet, and bathroom—comprise about one-third of the total space, utilizing plywood and tile finishes in the same blue-green hue. This initiative is named 'A Large Semicircle That Holds Everyday Life,' with photography by Yohei Sasakura.