okuno architects: house in kamogawa, japan

‘house in kamogawa’ by okuno architectural planning, kamogawa city, japan image © ushio kanta all images courtesy of okuno architectural planning

on a sparse residential plot in the sea-bordered prefecture of chiba, japan, lies a slant-walled home by local architect masaaaki okuno. the interior is organized by a trapezoidal atrium inscribed into a rhomboidal volume. the effect is a perpendicular tapering of space in a hallway-like fashion. the wood-constructed home’s wide floor plan rises to a narrow band of ceiling that allows the breakup and diffusion of light to all spaces in a uniform manner. the raised foundation slab makes for the open-air central void space to contain an offset, cutout pathway and enjoy the growth of a tree. the home fundamentally looks inward, countering the sloped, dark-clad exterior walls with the glazed inner clerestory and sliding glass doors that enclose the central open-air room. circulation is organized around this structure of light and immaterially enclosed void while challenging the dramatically angled walls to become open spaces of reflection rather than imposing enclosures.   

a view from the kitchen shows a sloped exterior wall meeting the glazed, immaterial inner wall of the atrium image © ushio kanta

the organizing architectonic space is a veritable glazed room inscribed in the trapezoidal volume of the building image © ushio kanta

the atrium allows generous amounts of light to enter the space while opening up the floor plan image © ushio kanta

‘house in kamogawa’ by okuna architectural planning, kamogawa city, japan image © ushio kanta

differently grained and inlaid wood both differentiates and blurs the domestic and open-air spaces image © ushio kanta

partitions are offset from the clerestory image © ushio kanta

the circulation and program are organized by a veritable glazed room image © ushio kanta

a sloped roof line is followed by a clerestory image © ushio kanta

night views show both the sky and the earth invited into the homeimage © ushio kanta

interior perspective of the entirety of the domestic programs image © ushio kanta

the home pointedly looks within and to the intangible power of the environmentimage © ushio kanta

project info:

charge: okuno public chapterstructure:tai wears early structural design office wearsconstruction: ltd. yasui builderprogram: single-family houseslocation: kamogawa city, chiba prefecturescale: wooden bungalow kensite area: 780 square metersconstruction area: 118 square meterstotal floor area: 118 square meterscompletion: 2012