An 8-Story Building Set To Revive A Kyoto Neighborhood

Entitled ‘K8’, the tall building is fronted by a slatted wood facade, evoking movement and a shifting degree of transparency to passers-by. The space was designed to house a range of businesses, from aperitif on the ground floor to digestif on top, with each floor linked by a layered staircase. In a statement about the project, the architects explain, “Where Pontocho is experienced as a horizontal sequence of encounters, K8 is the translation of that experience into the vertical.”