‘house in yamasaki’ by tato architects, hyogo, japanimage © ken’ichi suzukiall images courtesy of tato architects
designed for a single family with two children in the northern area of hyogo, japan, local firm tato architects have sent us images of a house they have completed that plays with micro-urbanization on a grey plinth. the entire footprint was sunken into the ground 760 millimeters, lowering the roof line and opening viewsto the surrounding mountains and landscape, but also creating a stable semi-subterranean level that uses the earth’s mass for natural insulation.the grey wooden platform houses the main living spaces, kitchen and bedrooms in a wooden frame structure that uses the same material for interior partitions and floor surface. large voids in the ceiling plane connect this open-plan area with three smaller versions of the archetypal house with spatially efficient ladders. two of the mini-dwellings resting on the base platform are similarly constructed of slender timber frames and clad in translucent corrugated polycarbonate panels. these volumes contain the bathroom and sun room in spaces that do not transmit direct sunlight but rather enjoy diffused illumination during the day and glow at night, in addition to acting as light wells and greenhouses for the space below. the third construct is a solid structure and contains a guest room. the canopy then becomes a common courtyard shared amongst each individual protrusion from the primary foundation, with extruded aluminum handrails and storage boxes and benches. the exterior is covered in long cement board panels and efficient insulation and vapor barrier.
smaller archetypal houses sitting on an inhabitable wooden baseimage © ken’ichi suzuki
transparencies glow at duskimage © ken’ichi suzuki
image © ken’ichi suzuki
windows can be used as doorways as the roof also becomes a terraceimage © ken’ichi suzuki
image © ken’ichi suzuki
rooftop terrace with integrated aluminum seatingimage © ken’ichi suzuki
interstitial spaces between mini-housesimage © ken’ichi suzuki
openings in the floor plane allow the user to step insideimage © ken’ichi suzuki
corrugated plastic panels create a shaded light boximage © ken’ichi suzuki
bathroomimage © ken’ichi suzuki
image © ken’ichi suzuki
ladders communicate the main living space to the upper housesimage © ken’ichi suzuki
image © ken’ichi suzuki
(left) office(right) dining roomimage © ken’ichi suzuki
image © ken’ichi suzuki
lower office spaceimage © ken’ichi suzuki
interior wooden partitionsimage © ken’ichi suzuki
main living spaceimage © ken’ichi suzuki
image © ken’ichi suzuki
construction of light-house
interior of house
assembly of corrugated translucent panels
floor plan / level 0
floor plan / level 1
section
section
elevation
elevation
project info:
project name: house in yamasakilocation of site: hyogo japansite area: 231.72m2building area: 93.68m2total floor area: 119.11m2type of construction: woodenprogram: houseproject by: tato architectsprincipal designer: yo shimadadesign period : oct.2010 -aug. 2011construction period: oct.2011 -feb.2012
