Rib Apartment / Ryu Mitarai & Associates, Architects

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Text description provided by the architects. This apartment building is built just off the bus from the station and a short walk over the river. When I went up to the 4th floor where the room was located, it was impressive that the green of the garden looked out of the window and beyond that, the scenery spread far away. I imagined how happy the family would be if they could feel the sunlight, the cool breeze, and the rubbing of the green leaves every day in this room, which has a lot of windows in L-shaped plan.

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So we decided to remove the existing partition walls and ceiling, and to create a place to stay on the windowsill from scratch inside the skeleton. 45mm square hemlock is arranged in a rib shape so as to surround the windows, and 13mm thick plywood is turned there. Two plywood were laminated for both finishing and structure, with Lauan material appearing on the window side and a gray-colored painted surface that was as close to white as possible on the opposite side.

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And when the lauan material used here is soaked with natural oil along the gentle grain, it becomes reddish as if it came back to life. When the rough wood surface was extended to the bunch of sunlight overflowing from the window, the grains of light appeared as soft shades, giving me a feeling of warmth and calm beyond description.

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In addition, a horizontal rib that works as a structure turns inside the curved wall, forming a bookshelf. When many favorite books and treasures are lined up there, the favorite place will be created naturally. Furthermore, around the window, the finished plywood is stretched inward as if extending the wall surface and the surface of the upper beam. By hiding the existing aluminum sash frame that looks complicated, We thought that not only could the green outside be felt closer, but also a rich depth could be created in the overlapping layers created on the windowsill.

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In this way, we will use wood to create a place where we want to snuggle up so that the windows are inflated. I hope that the families living here will spend rich time together while feeling comfortable with the gentle fluctuations of nature.

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