This is a satellite studio “on the street” by a cable broadcasting company specializing in music. It is their first step to extend the company’s business to general broadcasting. The company requested to renovate the showroom on the first floor of its main office, and to balance the arrangement of three different functions; a studio, a control room, and a lounge. To share the broadcasting environment with the audience, the studio was especially planned to be exposed from both the outside and the lounge inside. The broadcasting business, including BS and CS (types of satellite broadcasting ), is a digital system that allows for greater diversity. Because of this, paradoxically, an “analog” sharing system to create a human connection with the audience is becoming more important. Now, the situation of local FM stations “on the street” is a very common occurrence. In this sense, this project could be seen as a pioneer model of local information-release stations.

Inside the station the lounge is situated beside the main office’s entrance hall as the introducing space, and the studio and the control room are behind it. The intended theme was to show this studio-complex as a part of a set in a visual studio. In keeping with this theme, painted electric ducts cover the whole ceiling and allow for a variety of events. Real brick-tiles cover the wall of the lounge to form a connection to the street, and this contrasts with the white-colored inorganic space of the entrance hall, resulting in a distinct change of atmosphere. The entire design, including the studio and the control room, is particular about natural materials to make the space stress-free, even during a long stay. The concept of the design came from my belief that the sense of human touch cannot be ignored in the interface between a human being and machine.