Wind-Dyed House

Beyond the second-floor living room, a wooden terrace descends the hillside in steps. Pillars gently demarcate interior and exterior, while deep eaves overhanging the terrace form a space evocative of the engawa, or narrow porch, typical of traditional Japanese homes. Viewed from this porch, the terrace’s stepped design renders the lower railing invisible. As one descends towards the ocean, the sense of becoming a part of the landscape only grows.
In contrast to the open second floor, the first floor feels subdued and restful. Windows are low and the design plays up the slope of the terrace overhead. Varied materials including glass, concrete, stone, and Japanese paper further define the contrast between each floors.

What were the circumstances of receiving the commission for this project?

I heard from the clients that they saw two of our other projects, House in Yugawara and RSH:3 (both completed in 2006) in a magazine, and that led directly to their contacting us. During the design process for those two houses, which are both located far from urban areas, we thought very deeply about the ambiguity of being open and closed to the surrounding landscape at the same time. The same themes were picked up again in this project.

Can you describe your design process for the building?

When we think about designing structures that reflect the landscape, nature, and culture of the particular site where they’re built, shadow, permeability, materials and proportion are key. Those considerations are reflected in the space as variations in texture or atmosphere, such as heavy versus light or wet versus dry. In this project, we allocated these types of textural variations between the multiple floors that the site’s sloped nature gave rise to. We then linked these variations with a circulation plan that’s integrated into the architectural form. Essentially, however, the texture of each space must be derived from the idiosyncrasies of the environment surrounding it. In that sense, we were fortunate that this site offered us a very diverse natural environment to work with.

How does the completed building compare to the project as designed? Were there any dramatic changes between the two and/or lessons learned during construction?

By using a Vierendeel beam structure on the top floor we were able to eliminate diagonal braces and bearing walls from the peripheral walls. But because the base of the 75 x 75 mm solid steel columns that serve as the main posts are secured by gusset plates that had to be placed in the concrete slab with extreme precision, framing the structure was quite difficult.

The combination of acrylic sheeting and latticework that governs the permeability/privacy balance on the upper floor turned out as we hoped it would. However, once construction got underway, we had to make some small adjustments to the detailing on the window and door frames that serves to absorb the thermal expansion of the acrylic sheets. In that sense the construction phase turned out to be quite important.

How does the building relate to contemporary architectural trends, be it sustainability, technology, etc.?

When we think about the value of architecture, it’s critical to remember that before a certain house is the private property of its owner, it’s a product belonging to society as a whole. It follows that sustainability can be defined both as a limiting factor that controls technology and as a value accrued by the public. Balancing those two aspects of sustainability was important in this project. From the earliest stages we focused on using vernacular and traditional Japanese building methods to unify the concepts of designing for the public and designing for the client.

E-Mail Interview conducted by Yuko Machida