北陆住宅 3 号丨日本丨Chidori Studio

Architects:Chidori Studio

Area:98m²

Year:2022

Photographs:Yasuhiro Nakayama

Manufacturers:Artek,LIXIL,fujie textile

Lead Architects:Yusuke Oka

Contractors:Yamashita Construction

Structural Engineers:Unno Structural Consultant

Landscape Designers:glove

Fabric Designer:FUJIE TEXTILE

Housing Consultants:Letatta Counter

City:Hakusan

Country:Japan

“Incorporating a multi-layered townscape” - Attracted by the spacious site and the surrounding environment with its old townscape at the foot of Mt. Hakusan, one of Japan's three sacred mountains, the young couple sought a one-story house with a large garden and open living, dining, and kitchen areas. Thanks to the clean water flowing from the mountains, traditional industries such as sake breweries, soy sauce, miso, and koji still remain in the surrounding area, and this site is also surrounded by a group of sake brewery buildings.

The adjacent land to the west of the site, owned by a sake brewery, is vacant and has no fence. The vacant lot, as seen from the site, is surrounded by fields and a small plantation, and beyond it are townhouses and a view of the mountains. The layout of the building was studied in order to create a visually expansive courtyard with this as a borrowed landscape. In addition, in order to keep some distance from the bustle of the road in front of the house, the building was placed in an L-shape along the road.

Considering the loading and unloading of camping equipment, which is the hobby of the owner, we designed a floor plan that allows a view through the courtyard to the garage like a Japanese traditional gatehouse (horses have been replaced by motorcycles and farming tools by camping equipment), the living room, dining room, and kitchen like a main house with a large gable wall. The plan of the house is such that the living room, dining room, and kitchen can be seen through the courtyard.

The site is surrounded by a mixture of buildings of different periods and functions, including a townscape of town houses with matching eaves, a large sake brewery that has been extended and remodeled, and modern office buildings and factories. The lot across the street from the main site is slated to become a residential subdivision and will include a house with a carport. The various buildings that make up the streetscape are a living manifestation of the people who live here.

In this environment, we wondered if it would be possible to create a house that could be interpreted as a building of each era and function. The result is a house with a roof shape like an enlarged machiya (Japanese townhouse), a roof slope and construction similar to that of a warehouse, modern industrial exterior walls and components, and a layout that treats the adjacent vacant lot as its own site. Rather than referring to a single historical building or landscape feature, as was attempted with Hokuriku Dwelling No. 1, we sought a form of architecture that would accept and participate in this townscape, which has undergone a mixture of changes over the ages.

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