atelier ryo abe organizes perfil house around weathered steel core

atelier ryo abe organizes perfil house around weathered steel core
image © shimizu ken

‘perfil house’ by the architects at atelier ryo abe is located in the meguro district in tokyo. the unusual structure sits on a corner of a residential road where the neighboring buildings are all architecturally different. discovering that within each compact home lies visual facets they all share in common; the plants they grow, the pilotis driveways to the truss and window details, they tell a story of the inhabitants’s lifestyles. the designers used this concept and stitched together elements found to create the form of the new private residence. the structure is supported by eight steel columns that is fixed to steel beams, thus forming the growing framework that forms the distinctive metal core of the house. from this, the weathered core is the basis that creates storage, niches, bedrooms meanwhile finishing at the top of the house where the angular frosted glass opens up to a bathroom. designed to suit the lifestyles of the japanese family, natural materials and finishes is used throughout, seen in the timber boards and stucco which adds a course texture to the interior.

the entrance under the overhang
image © shimizu ken

the outer envelope is punctured with a large house-shaped glass openings, creating a space with ambiguous interior and exterior characteristics whilst allowing natural light to illuminate the rooms from different angles. on approach, the entrance lies under a overhang where the ground floor is wrapped in glass, meanwhile the rest of the spatial arrangement has been positioned to the east and south sides, closer to the street where there is more daylight.

atelier ryo abe comments: ‘the house is designed as a ‘perfil’ that provokes the sensibilities of city life – where conversations between the house and the residents are born in moments when the ‘heart’ senses the phenomena revealed in this space, faster than the mind is able to process it. unified experiences of life and the city are created around every house, which gradually integrate and replace the streets with a new and living cityscape. My aim is to integrate the city’s ‘perfil’ which is the origin of this change.’

lounge area with the house-shaped windows
image © shimizu ken