梅之木的房子丨日本丨Hidekazu Kishi Architects

Architects:Hidekazu Kishi Architects

Area:85m²

Year:2024

Lead Architects:Hidekazu Kishi

Category:Houses

Engineering & Consulting > Structural:Komatsu Structural Design

City:Nisshin

Country:Japan

Text description provided by the architects. This is a house for the designer himself and his family. The site is adjacent to a long-established community center on the north side, while the surrounding area is an old settlement where signs of gradual residential development and generational change can be seen.

In light of the distribution of public spaces in this region and the evolving mix of old and new communities, we felt that a suitable place would be one where people could directly experience the town's environment and landscape while maintaining their living space, and a base for observing the town while remaining independent yet accepting of change.

Therefore, the small rooms housing the functions were placed towards the edge of the site, and the large open space in the center was left open to create a shared living space. Then, several small roofs are gently placed where needed, and furniture and plants are scattered inside and outside them to create a living space.

It's the opposite of drilling a window in a box; it's more like gathering branches and leaves to build a nest. Through the gaps between the small rooms, you can see the garden trees, beyond which you can see the street and cityscape, and a small hill a little further in the distance. Through the gaps in the roof, you can see the roof of the neighboring house and the sky. From close-ups of objects and furniture to distant views of the cityscape and sky, countless depths unfold in various directions. It is a home that feels softly protected yet expands endlessly.

Looking back on my childhood, I used my family home as the origin of my coordinate system, perceiving the world through its cardinal directions (north, south, east, and west). Choosing a place to live is like setting the origin of your world's coordinate system, and living there is an activity of viewing the world from that origin.

Although this house is located in a quiet corner of a neighborhood, it is a place where its inhabitants feel a sense of origin and a place from which they can feel the world stretching out endlessly. Living spaces connected to the town are influenced and changed by the town's landscape, the activities of the people around it, the seasons, and the weather. We accept and observe these changes, and live together with the town.

The end result of the small-scale developments seen in the surrounding area is a collection of individually private residential areas and road spaces designed solely for transportation. We hope that by this house, which is adjacent to a community center, a local community space, blending into the neighborhood, we can alleviate the rigidity of the residential area and play a part in sustaining a community-oriented neighborhood.

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