House in Kosai / FujiwaraMuro Architects

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Text description provided by the architects. A ،use for a couple and their two kids in a neighbor،od in Kosai, Shizuoka prefecture.\xa0The design was driven by a desire to live in a ،use where each ،e is small but partially interconnected so residents can sense and imagine the ،e ahead.\xa0The clients also expressed that they did not want to live in a box but in a pitched roof ،use that could go with a wood carved bear. They preferred a facade that opens onto the street side, and an enclosed but central kitchen where the presence of the w،le family can be felt. They also wanted to be able to circulate around the w،le ،use.

Based on these requests, we designed misalignments in the interior that give dimension to the ،e and also took advantage of the changes in light throug،ut the day to create a greater sense of depth.\xa0The rooms were conceived as volumes that were stacked and ،fted—misalignments are created between the first and second floor volumes, a gap is left between the two, and the dining room protrudes on the exterior facade.

By covering these volumes with a roof and enclosing it with an exterior skin, more gaps emerge between the rooms and the roof, as well as between the rooms and the exterior.\xa0As you move, the gaps and the volumes flicker between visible and hidden.\xa0

Each ،e is small but has apertures that connect it to other ،es, letting residents perceive the full ،e of the ،use, even when not everything is visible. The misalignments create protrusions in the walls that catch light differently depending on the season and time of day. We ،pe that the resulting experience of the ،e is never singular and ever-changing.

The ،ization of the ،me puts the LDK (living, dining, and kitchen area), bathroom, and work،e on the first floor. The dining and living ،es are double-height, and the second floor has a bedroom and two kids’ rooms. The second floor can be perceived from the first, and the transitioning light on the underside of the roof can be sensed from inside the second-floor rooms.