Although located in a neighborhood near Kyoto known for its historical buildings, this house is in a newly developed residential area marked by contemporary architecture.
A Slice of Life for a Modern Family: In sharp contrast to the client's previous Western-style dwelling, this open, loftlike house encourages togetherness, a quality of life still prized by the Japanese.
A Breath of Fresh Air: A Tokyo firm replaces an outdated schoolhouse with a vibrant, flexible facility that satisfies stringent seismic codes and provides a healthy environment.
In Japan, where the birthrate is dropping and the elderly population is rising, more schools are closing than opening. But in Kumamoto prefecture on the nation's southernmost island, Kyushu, the city of Uto was faced with an aging elementary school and nearly 800 youngsters to educate.
Like an introverted person, the House of Trough, designed by architect Jun Igarashi in the Kato-gun district of the Hokkaido prefecture in northern Japan, focuses inward.
Completion Date: April 2009 Owner: Toraya Program: A new building for the Japanese pastry maker Toraya, which has occupied the site for approximately 500 years. The structure—housing a café, a gallery, offices, and the pastry workshop—is connected by a central garden to a small storage house from the Edo Period, for a total of 12,000 square feet. Design concept and solution: The architects wanted the café and garden-side terrace to feel like one big indoor-outdoor space, open and relaxing. They united the café and terrace with a gently sloping ceiling of narrow wood ribs, which extends into an awning over the
Inspired by that magical space sheltered beneath leafy, deciduous branches, Tree House, designed by Mount Fuji Architects Studio, revolves around a single column measuring 4 feet in diameter that supports frames (aka “branches”) of engineered wood.