冈山住宅，日本 / Torafu Architects

A Collection of Large Furniture

Two generations live in this three-storied wooden house located in a Tokyo residential area. The site corresponds to a 4.7 m wide × 16.5 m long fringe of the land where the owner’s parents lived. Furthermore, the site is enclosed by buildings on three sides while its northern side abuts directly on the street. The layout was designed to alleviate the impression of narrowness of the frontage in as much as possible and make the best use of the site’s conditions within the maximum volume allowed by setback restrictions. To minimize pressure from the corridor on the frontage path we devised a basic plan that placed the entrance and stairs at the center while the bedroom and public areas are divided on a north-south axis.

Taking into account the fact that the occupants had many belongings, we incorporated a storage space shaped like a box between the 1st and 2nd floors. Above the bedroom on the 2nd floor is a child’s room that resembles a huge table. Each part is connected by stairs bearing a different design and the space between some of the steps can be used for storage as well. The floor of the living room on the 2nd floor extends into the bedroom where it serves as a desk. The toilet in the intermediary storage space protrudes into the 2nd floor to act as a light-well and a table. The bay window in the wall connecting to the ceiling can also become a bench, giving a sense of loftiness to the whole space. Boards placed between the four sturdy walls passing through the 1st to 3rd floor become shelves and desks that make for a big storage wall by using the structure of the house.

This random-looking composition resembles multifunctional stacking,thus can be seen as one large piece of furniture. We implemented a cross-section design free from the hierarchical configuration of a normal building, blurring the boundaries between building and furniture. From the fitting of the terrace to the placement of the shelves and other minute details, we employed a construction method by aggregation, whereby each architectural component becomes a piece of furniture. This makes the house a vessel that allows for perpetual change to take place and leaves enough leeway for its inhabitants to add their own touch after they move in.

这个位于东京的三层住宅生活着两代人。住宅用地宽4.7米，长16,5米。三面紧邻周边建筑，一面临街。设计布局尽量减缓这种狭窄的印象，使其房屋利用达到最佳效果。为了减少对道路的压力，我们设置通道，入口开在中部，楼梯也在中部，卧室和公共场所以中部楼梯为分界线分开。

业主有许多物件，因此设置了夹层存放物品。二层的地板延伸到主卧，其中一部分主卧可以将其当成书桌用。窗台能够当成座椅使用。顶层层高较高空间具有崇高性。

建筑设计中将许多功能叠加在了一起，建筑似乎可以看成一件大型的家具，建筑师也有意模糊建筑与家具的区别，同时设计具有灵活性，业主在搬进去了之后，可以根据自己的想法进行改变。

PROJECT DATA Structural design: OHNO-JAPAN Co.,Ltd. Facility design: MAXRAY (Lightings) Production: AO Fabric design: NUNO Building site: Meguro Tokyo Site area: 76.16m² Total floor area: 104.50m² Number of stories: 3F + Storage Structure: Wood Design period: 2009.11-2010.05 Construction period: 2010.06-11 Photographs are by Daici Ano.