SRK / ARTechnic architects

Curated by ArchDaily

Architects: ARTechnic architects
Area: 176 m²
Year: 2014
Constructor: Wada Construction, Hiroyuki Wada
Structural Engineer: NAO, Naomi Kitayama

Text description provided by the architects. By expanding and adjusting the existing land condition and nature within, I have attempted to create a space which provides dwelling as like a part of the nature.

SRK / ARTechnic architects - Table, Chair, Beam, Windows — Courtesy of ARTechnic architects

The shape has been finalized rationally and organically in the forming process of dealing with the site condition and requested function. Not only the result of the form being organic, by paying attention to the organic matter of the planning process, the process itself perhaps produced the organic space.

There was a 3.7m height difference and were a lot of tall trees left at the top of the hill by the boundary of the site. Since the earth retaining wall has been required for utilizing these trees to create the view from the upper floor, not only the wall has been taken an advantage of becoming as a part of the architecture, it even has been made to grow to form the external shell. The earth retaining wall of the lower floor has been raised in the form of a spiral shape and wrapped around the building, involving the exterior space as an external shell of the upper floor. The entire exterior wall of this house was formed by this external shell. The upper floor surrounded by this wall and tall trees was cut by glassed windows to separate from the exterior, creating an atmosphere of dwelling directly in a rocky mountain. The functional requirement as a house was satisfied by furniture.

The exterior wall, leaning toward outside creates an effect of reducing the spacial pressure, leads natural sunlight and also reflects it into interior space. I was able to meet the client’s expectation “shutting off the view from neighbor, but obtaining the feeling of open space”.

I treated the wall as a man made nature, fulfilled the function by furniture and blocked the air by glass for human to reside in. It is the origin of Japanese architecture for furniture and windows to collateral the performance as a house, though I aimed to obtain a sense of European strength which provides living by furniture in remain and stones structures.

In addition, the house holds a complexed spatial composition, though it creates a reasonable and comfortable thermal environment by external wall insulation and underfloor heating/cooling system.