A little attractive two-storey building with steel structures sewn with slate sheets was built back in 1965. But Kengo Kuma knows how to find and reveal the hidden virtues of even dull buildings. In this case, the architect used an advantageous location on top of a small Kagurozaka hill. Actually, the name of the project - La Kagu - is formed from the first letters of the name of the hill and the area around it. The definite article La was added out of respect for the French who liked to settle in this part of the city.
Kuma retained the rigid industrial style of the former warehouse and did not even try to somehow humanize the gray corrugated slate. The first floor, now occupied by a shop of fashionable women's clothing and a cafe, received continuous panoramic glazing and is maximally open to the city. On the closed second floor you can buy men's clothing, furniture, household goods, books. There is also a universal space for chamber lectures, relaxation, and reading. The total area of the building returned to the city is 962.5 m2.
But the mood and quality of a building in this case is determined not only and not so much by its facades and interiors. A wide, sloping wooden staircase, reminiscent of layers of soil, naturally connects the building with the surrounding city and completely changes the perception of the once boring and utilitarian building, which has suddenly become a semblance of a "temple" of the urban lifestyle. The staircase starts right at the foot of the hill, and in the middle it divides into two independent arms, leading, respectively, to the entrances to the first and second floors. There is also a reverse movement: the wooden "lava" slowly and solemnly descends down to the city, neatly flowing around the trees along the way and forming a comfortable public space for a variety of events.
