ABC center house by kakuro odagi + daisuke narushima

‘ABC center house’ by kakuro odagi + daisuke narushima, yokohoma, japan

image ©  daichi ano

all images courtesy of odagi planning associates / narushima architecture office

amongst a landscape of inhospitable factories in yokohama city, ‘ABC center house’, an administrative building in a model-home park, stands apart from the surrounding industrial architecture. a collaboration between designers at odagi planning and associates and narushima architecture office, the two-storied building is used as an office where customers first come to get information and where various events and seminars related to homebuying take place. a large shed roof with asymmetrical composition of apertures and lights covers the three parts of the building: the lounge connected contiguously to the terrace, the seminar room with a reversed interior-exterior relationship, and the semi-outdoor terrace covered by eaves. the structure gently unites the three spaces while maintaining each spatial identity. the terrace also serves as an intermediate space between the outside park and interior. in contrast to most model homes where the building products pretend to be the surface of real materials, in the administrative offices, tectonic textures are applied in a graphical way so as to flatten the material palette. this ironic reversal is imperceptible from a distance, but strikingly apparent when viewed closely. the uniform application of cladding material by level visually opens the space and extends the lines of sight from within the building. the self-contained office space is a direct reflection of the ever-remodeled marketability of model homes and is intended to playfully reframe the mass-production of built form.

the view from the parking space shows the various types of cladding in dialogue image © daichi ano

interior and exterior spaces are organized by a large shed roof image © daichi ano

(left): view of the entrance with angled glazing(right): interiors benefit from a smattering of roof apertures image © daichi ano

the top level enjoys views of the model home park image © daichi ano

interior ans exterior boundaries are blurred image © daichi ano

a multiplicity of cladding reflects the mass production of living space typologies image © daichi ano

terrace viewimage © daichi ano

view from the office image © daichi ano

floor plan level 1

floor plan level 2

section

project info:

architect: kakuro odagi (odagi planning & associates) + daisuke narushima (narushima architecture office)
location: yokohama, kanagawa, japan
structural design: yosuke kinoshita
structural system: wooden
storeys: 2 
maximum height: 8,950 mm
building area: 81.86 sqm
total floor area: 93.44 sqm
project year: 2012

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