Seiyu no Ie Katsushika-ku, Tokyo, Japan Architect: Zoo Design, Inc. Construction completed: April 1998
3 Seiyu no Ie 1996-1998 project list RAY index	Seiyu no Ie is a complex of a senior citizens' house and a nursery school. On one hand, aged residents need a lighting that makes up for weak sight and strength, and that guarantees peaceful comfort; on the other hand, children require another concept that offers not only facilities but also amusement. Therefore, there were four essential points: first, to enhance the polished beauty of elders; second, to appreciate residents' creativity in interior lighting; third, to open up the building to visitors; and fourth, to encourage lively joy, which these kinds of facilities often lose. In practice, whole space is colored with warm incandescent light, which generates an easy, comfortable brightness. Pendant lamps of each residence are attached with optional colors and components that enable residents to create their own lighting. On the ground floor, where visitors share the space with the elders and the children, lighting collaborates with the unique features of the building and welcomes the visitors in a hospitable, pleasant atmosphere; for instance, a planted vertical face, called "forest wall," is floating in light; and the "woods" of the dining hall are hung with "fruits" of pendant lamps. When children hurry home from the nursery school, red neon lights on the facade start to shine inspiring aged souls with wild, energetic glow in the dusk. Far apart from the ordinary old-age homes or nursery schools, Seiyu no Ie obtained a unique place in the downtown. Here, the lighting has an impact to make a life lively. Copyright © 1999-2013 Reiko Chikada Lighting Design Inc. All rights reserved, unless otherwise specified.