Toshima City, Japan

“I like hotels that remind me I’m really staying in the city,” states Masahiro Harada of Mount Fuji Architects Studio.

“You may think I’m stating the obvious, but how many of you can say you’ve really experienced the city after spending a night in a hotel there?”

“Usually, you enter a hotel from the street through the front door and reach a rather secluded lobby where you check-in.”

“You ride in a box as the elevator takes you up, walk down a dimly-lit corridor, open the door to your room and pass through the narrow space in front of the bathroom before finally reaching the space you’ll spend the night in.”

“Enveloped in many layers, the room is so isolated that you find yourself separated from the city of Tokyo, and I think you must be aware only that you’re staying in a certain hotel brand.”

“I always feel that this must be really boring for the traveler. So, what we wanted to create here was a hotel where guests would experience the uniqueness of the city.”

Designed by Harada, Hotel Siro brings Tokyo’s layered streets directly into the building.

Every flight of stairs, which directly connects each floor with the city, has a different design, just like stairs in hilly cities like Nagasaki and Onomichi.

The stairways lead to a loggia-like open-air hallway where breezes can blow through.

Every room is directly accessed from this Tokyo roji alleyway-like hall.

The rooms include this engawa-like access from the hallway and a door entryway, both reminiscent of a ryokan traditional inn, making them novel, contemporary yet Japanese.

By opening the shoji screens and sliding doors, you can revel in the cityscape of the Ikebukuro district spreading out below and find your wanderlust fulfilled.

“I’ve heard that a traveler is called “a wandering bird (wandervogel)” in German.”

“I hope you will relax and sleep in this hotel is if it were a perch in a city you’re flying over, nestled in the city’s embrace.”

Project: Hotel Siro
Architects: Mount Fuji Architects Studio
Design Team: Masahiro Harada+MAO and Takashi Takei
General Contractor: Fujiki Komuten Co., Ltd
Client: Hotel Siro
Photographer: Ryota Atarashi