This thesis project by Carmelia Chiang explored the implications of tangential space – the condition caused by two surfaces, either physical or implied, approaching to touch at a single point. The moment of the “kiss” resolves itself in spatial discomfort, awkwardness and tension.

Architects seemed to avoid tangential moments through history, as they considered it to be dysfunctional space – the acute angle. In an eternal effort to create better composition and what they would think of as usable space, methods of overlapping or distancing have been typically employed. As a rejection of this sensibility, the intention of this thesis is to treat tangential moments as catalysts for new use, novel spatiality, unique structural solutions and unexpected atmospheric settings. By designing architecture through tangency, this thesis explores the potential of tangential space in order to provoke new forms of spatial, programmatic and practical relationships in architecture.

As an established place for fashion and architecture, the Ginza area of Tokyo, Japan will be the location of a new Fashion House. Sited adjacent to the Mansion Hermes, the new Fashion House will be the expression of a distinct and iconographic presence within Tokyo’s high density urban context. Programmatically similar to OMA’s Prada store in New York City, the new Fashion House will fuse together aspects at the heart of fashion: retail store and runaway. While outside one will encounter the tension through perceptual tangency, when inside, one will experience both the unexpected and awkward affects created by basic tangency, continuous tangency and perceptual tangency.