Completed in July 2008, the house aptly described (and possibly named, long name though) as ”Soft Segmentation and Contiguity Made By The Tube-shaped Windows on the Roof That Let in Light”. You might be thinking, Wow! I was when I first saw the images of the single-storey house and I also was in draw dropping awe of the vocabulary used in the architects description. After looking up contiguity…in a large dictionary, I couldn’t find it in my smaller dictionary & thesaurus, it all made sense and I think that first image sums it up perfectly. I say no more.
Despite the beauty that this building posesses it is actually incredibly functional too. Its located in Yokohama Kanagawa, Japan on a very tight site, butted up against by houses on three sides and snug against the road on its fourth. As you probably noticed the glazing on this house is relatively small, apart from the sliding glass doors that allow access to the garden. Intelligently, the roof is not only a piece of structural art, it also allows reams of light down into the open-plan space below. As you can see, the interior is no less spectacular than its concrete clad exterior.
Designers of the house, Torafu Architects explain: “The house being one-storied, we were able to form the roof with freedom. And taking advantage of the freedom, we aimed to make the exterior and the interior appear as two sides of the same object.”
What I find so intriguing about this house, not only concerns the carefully considered building, but the Japanese way of life and culture. On the inside there are no walls seperating spaces, all areas that I would consider sepearate reside under one roof. Literally. Kitchen melds into livingroom and possibly most compromising, livingroom and kitchen transform directly into bedroom. Whats fascinating about the architects technique as to subconciously divide different spaces within the house are mediated by what in architectural terms is called an arris. An arris is a sharp edge formed by the intersection of two surfaces, in this case the upper part of the roof and the lower ‘walled’ part of the structure. These angles that span down from above connect with the lower walls, cutting across the different spaces, creating not an impassable barrier, but a division. Just enough enclosure to denote a traditional kitchen seperate from a traditional playroom.
Although it seems as if the clients and residents of this house, a married couple, want to be left alone away from neighbours prying eyes. They are most definitely at one with one another, and their adult son who has a small design studio up an interesting staircase. It is incredibly liberating to see such a space in a residential building and I can’t help but wonder whether something like this would work in the UK. I’m thinking probably not, but then again every client is different!
I was inundated with great images when I was looking through the Architects website. So if you’re intrigued to see more here’s the link to the young architecture practice; Torafu Architects
Architect Baron 