The building was rebuilt in a residential area developed in the 1960s that was used as rice fields, and prior to that a likely Arakawa distributary.
The building was located towards the west side of the
site to allow a line-of-vision between the road on the south side and the park
on the north side, and where the view was formerly blocked is now used as an
approach. The main structures of the building are two large wooden walls on the
north and south sides that block the view, three floors in-between, and a roof
truss. In order to create a foundation for living, the interior of the large
wooden walls are entirely made of shelves of Tilia japonica. White walls supported with steel frames sandwich
both ends of the wall shelves. In the openings between the wall shelves and the
white walls, there are slit windows and a vaulted ceiling that runs from the
park to the street. Three trees are planted in front of the windows to provide
shade in a town with few trees.
A bed is on the quiet first floor, a table is on the main
floor where it is evenly spaced with its surroundings, and a bathtub is located
on the sunlit topmost floor. A kitchen, a desk, and a bathroom are under the
vaulted ceiling and paired up with the aforementioned furniture on each floor.
The vaulted ceiling and the furniture-like stairs join the interior, and the
exterior is joined by the windows.
Gravel that looks like a riverbed covers the ground, and
the foundation stone was raised to take into account the water level of
previous floods. The three trees are Cercidiphyllum
japonicum that naturally occur on waterfronts, and Tilia japonica that is also used for the wall shelf material. The
symmetric white facade is hidden behind the neighboring blue garage and gives
an illusion that the house existed before the surrounding houses were built.
The roof truss seen behind the glass provides a barn-like appearance, and is
intended to create an incongruent situation in a uniform residential area.
Times New Roman;mso-ansi-language:EN-US; mso-fareast-language:JA;mso-bidi-language:AR-SA">The house was designed to realize a wealth of life in a large space that is integrated with the history of the site and the surrounding environment, although it is actually a small sized house.
Location:Saitama,Japan
Architects:Takahashi
Maki+Shiokami Daisuke/Takahashi Maki and Associates
Structural engineers:Moribe Yasushi/Moribe Yasushi lab(Showa Women’s University)
General contractors:Shishido building firm
structure:wooden
main use:house
Site area:38.05 sqm
Building area:20.95 sqm
Total floor area:57.95
sqm
Times New Roman;mso-font-kerning:1.0pt; mso-ansi-language:EN-US;mso-fareast-language:JA;mso-bidi-language:AR-SA">Photographs:shigeta satoshi/nacasa&partners inc.,Takahashi Maki and Associates