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Architects: Akinari Tanaka + POI + Nawakenjimu + Lapin
- Area: 67 m²
- Year: 2010
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Photographs:Kei Sugimoto
Text description provided by the architects. This is the project that the client returned to the birthplace after the retirement and rebuilt an old house. He requested sunny one-storied house with good ventilation.
But there was a problem that an erstwhile quiet green residential area was changed into densely built-up area, and moreover neighbor's concrete block wall surrounded his flagpole shape site. And there was a sense of being oppressed. So we tried the design “Shakuhei”(=Borrowed wall) to turn this bad condition to the advantage.
Incorporating beautiful landscape is usual method at "Shakkei", but this project "Syakuhei" is a trial to incorporating neighbor's ordinary concrete block wall. Therefore, we dared to make the house with a concrete block wall.
Firstly, we cut this site into pieces on a cross with concrete block wall. Secondly, we put one roof over the top of the wall. As a result, in all rooms we obtained scenery that our wall and neighbor's wall are seen at the same time. In a word, it is felt that neighbors' walls are own walls.
And we feel this house compact but large, because each rooms have a a garden. Further, we got a sense of unity and a reflection effect by painting neighbor's wall white with their consent. However, we want not only to borrow the wall from neighbors but also to build the relation of win-win.
So that, we secured the neighbor's sunny space with good breeze by making the flat roof terrace and painting it white. Fill-up concrete block structure (=for retaining walls) makes it possible to secure horizontal force by even if it is a straight joint. We planned efficient air conditioning in consideration of loop space. The air-conditioner blows air into air loop duct after taking return air from the center of the house. The air inlets are familiar screen blocks in a Japanese town. And the air outlets are simple holes but manual regulation of air volume is possible.
