2019 Architecture Awards

87 2019 Architecture Awards BUILD May19211 ed by Tan Yamanouchi, AWGL undertakes a wide range of projects and provides its clients with unparalleled service and creativity. Among the firm’s successful projects is its award-winning work on the MANGA ART HOTEL, TOKYO, a hostel based on the theme “Sleepless Hotel”, which provides its guests with an overnight experience enjoy art through manga. The hotel’s initial concept was to provide a never-before-seen accommodation experience in hopes of increasing the number of international tourists to Japan and to make them fall even deeper in love with Japan. To achieve this, the team at AWGL focused on one of the cultural industries for which Japan is most proud of: manga. Amidst the major domestic trend of electronic manga sales surpassing their paper versions, and as such through their work at MANGA ART HOTEL, TOKYO AWGL worked to provide a unique accommodation experience to guests by curating an exclusive selection of manga chosen based on the perspective of art. Here, guests are able take the manga in their own hands and experience the special feeling of reading paperback mangas. TAN YAMANOUCHI / AWGL: Best Integrated Architecture & Brand Design Studio 2019 – Japan & Best Hotel Architecture Project 2019 (Tokyo): MANGA ART HOTEL Through its four offices based across Japan AWGL is able to provide its clients with innovative, unique brand and architectural design services. Having awarded the firm two awards in the 2019 Architecture Awards we profile it and share an insight into some of the projects that drove it to win these prestigious accolades. L The AWGL team also wanted to facilitate cultural exchange with diverse guests through the media of mangas, in enabling direct communication between the guests and the employees of the hotel who will double as hosts. Surrounded by 5000 manga volumes, the space feels as though visitors have wandered into a “manga grotto”. The bookshelves set out in the facility, as if something from a different dimension, are filled with mangas which have been curated based on an artistic perspective. Ultimately, the team at AWGL are incredibly proud of the success of the MANGA ART HOTEL, and looking ahead they are eager to undertake even more exciting projects which can allow them to use as much creativity and ingenuity as the hotel did. Working with new clients on new innovations will remain the firm’s core focus over the years ahead as it seeks to grow its recognition even further and build upon the already enviable success of its four branch offices. Company: TAN YAMANOUCHI / AWGL Contact: Tan Yamanouchi Website: http://awgl-inc.com/