I have a note in my hand that was given to me by the owner of the house.

"Even after 100 years, it will never fade.

A house where the wind can blow through.

I believe that it is a building's true desire if it is loved by people, used for a long time, and quietly blends in with its surroundings.

The client said he wanted to live in the house as if it were a gallery.The client had a very unique way of living.The house was filled with many things, from modern to primitive to junk, including art, furniture, sundries, and books acquired from all over the world, which conveyed a lively daily activity.

Making a house, I think, is similar to making a vessel.

Daily life is the main focus, and architecture is just the background.While being a part of our daily lives, architecture is a part of our lives that adds color to our lives.I wanted to create an architecture that would be as strong as the unique objects in the house.

Concrete walls are erected.

Gaps were opened between the walls, which became openings.Long steel beams are placed from wall to wall, and wooden beams are placed on top of the beams to form the floor and roof.Although this is a simple concept, I wanted to create a structure in which the members of the building would appear as directly as possible in the design.

It is difficult to explain why the walls were made of concrete.If I had to say, I would say that it is because I feel a sense of security that the walls are protecting my life.I guess I wanted to have a solid wall.

The first request was to build a mixed structure of concrete and wood.

They wanted to build it on the site where their parents' house originally stood, following the redevelopment of the area in front of the station.Since the sister and brother's mother is elderly and they live together, and the house will be a gathering place for relatives during events, they decided to base the house on one large flat roof.The sister wanted to use fixtures and fittings from an old minka (traditional Japanese house) and a mizuya chest, so we imagined a minka built with a mixed structure so that it could continue to stand here over time.

Instead of a uniform roof, the water and guest rooms are set off from the main living room and dining room like a shed, and roofs of different heights are erected in each direction.

Since the owner works in the construction industry and has a relative who is a lumberman, he provided the materials for the formwork.In the midst of the wood shock, it happened to be easy to prepare a material 180 mm wide and 18 mm thick, which was a magnificent material to be used for the formwork.The owner of the building washed the wood himself and used it for the second layer of concrete.This was the first time cedar planks had been used for concrete, and as a result, the third time they were used for the concrete of the fence, which is now in the company's stock as a hypothetical material.The design was determined in a way that the designer could not fully intend.I think this is because they are made by hand, one by one, in dialogue with the site.

Mr. Nagasaki, the landscaper, has put together a garden that uses a lot of Komatsuishi (giant Komatsu stones) and stones from the site, giving it a powerful appearance in front of the station.

This is a house for two families of parents and three generations who run a pear orchard in Funabashi, Chiba Prefecture.

When I visited the site for the first time, the magnificent appearance of the main house still left an impression on me.

The client wanted to build a new house while keeping the existing main house.

When we visited the site, we envisioned a simple one-story residence with a gable roof.The new residence for the family was to be a one-story building with a reduced height so as not to be more assertive than the main house, and the roof was to be tiled to harmonize with the fine tiled roof of the main house.The roof is tiled to harmonize with the magnificent tile roof of the main house. The house is arranged in an L-shape with the volume long from east to west, surrounding the garden.This was the basic concept of the design.

The long east-west plane is divided into two households, the parent household and the child household, centering on the living room, and the two households live together while gently dividing their living space.

The structure is a mixture of concrete and wood.Concrete walls are placed on the north and south sides of each room, and the beams are built into well girders with climbing beams.The aim was to create a large space where the entire house, although separated by walls, is under one roof with a continuous hipped roof.

The materials used were concrete and wood for the structure, and the same roof tiles as those used in the main house.In order to carry on the memory of the former garden, natural stones, many of which had been left behind as garden stones, were placed between the walls and the foundation.

In a rural landscape in the suburbs of a city that is becoming increasingly urbanized over time, how can we create a new residence that is rooted in the land while at the same time inheriting its traditions?This is the theme of this house.

The owner of the house who designed his house 10 years ago contacted us and said that he had acquired the land next door.The land, with a magnificent bamboo grove owned by the landowner, had been on his mind since he built his house.

The owner had asked him for a villa about five years before his own house, and this is the third house he has built.He was under a lot of pressure to create something different and better than his previous two houses.

What was to be created in the midst of both his own residence and a vacation home?As a result, the main uses of the house were a mah-jongg room and a golf room for hobbies, and a Japanese-style room as a guest room for relatives to stay.

The most important thing for the owner was to incorporate the landowner's bamboo grove into the back of the house to create a continuous view of greenery in the garden.The private rooms were placed on the north side of the house to connect with the existing volume of the main house, and the flexible Japanese-style room was placed in the center of the house.The gable roof is flat so as not to obstruct the view from the main house... As we proceeded, we naturally settled on a Japanese-style design.

I wanted to create a Japanese-style room that would be as stately as a private house, yet still have a dignified air, not unlike a sukiya, or traditional ryokan, where one can relax and feel at home.

When I saw that the garden was finished and the house was finally connected to the mother's house, it was as if the house had been built before me.I was happy to think so.I am thankful that they have accepted our proposal to install a Japanese cypress bathtub and a furnace in the Japanese-style room, as this is the third house they have built, and that they are using the house with a sense of playfulness and love.I am very grateful to them for their playful attitude toward our design and for their loving use of the house.

The site is a corner lot where two T-junctions intersect, and although it is located in a quiet residential area with a lot of greenery, there are unexpectedly many people and cars coming and going.We considered how to make the house suitable for the lush green surrounding environment while firmly protecting the living space with concrete walls.

Because of the site's orientation, a garden was placed at the north and south corners of the plan, and a parking lot was placed at the corner where the road intersects.As a result, a deformed hexagonal plan was created, with a staircase and atrium in the center of the plan, creating a spiral-like flow line.The entranceway leads to a green garden, and the staircase is the axis around which the line of sight changes on the upper floors.The living room, dining room, and bedrooms surround the atrium, each with its own place in the house.

The hexagonal plan, born out of the relationship with the surroundings, results in a sculptural building against the city.The intention was to create some kind of concrete expression for the exterior of the building, and the final formwork consisted of a combination of six different thicknesses and widths of stiles and tiled roof tiles, with gaps of different widths (joints) between the stiles.Concrete that spills out of the gaps appears on the surface as burrs.As a result, the formwork and joint marks differed from place to place, creating an almost natural look.

Gabled roof open to the sea.

This villa stands on a mountain slope overlooking the ocean in Hayama.The building is built on a reinforced concrete foundation with a wooden gable roof. The long, narrow plan along the site boundary is angled toward the sea at the edges.

The upper floor is a single room with a triangular ceiling that stretches out, creating a large open space from the entrance to the dining room and living room.Beyond the living room is a large terrace overlooking the ocean.On the lower floor, the rooms are arranged at different levels, taking advantage of the difference in elevation of the slope, and there is a bathroom facing the terrace at the back of the house.The terrace on the lower floor is spacious enough to enjoy the sunset and cool down in the evening after bathing in the summer, and a staircase or a slide leads directly down to the garden.

The interior is finished with oak flooring, sand plaster walls and ceilings, and some wood.The countertops in the kitchen and washbasin counters are made of polished artificial stone, creating a grayish chic texture. 

While the house enjoys a dynamic view of the ocean, the interior is designed to have a calm and tranquil atmosphere throughout.