House Hongo

Nacasa&Partners/Miyuki Kaneko

Renovated house in Miyazaki City, Miyazaki.

• Architects

The client wanted to keep the Japanese-style room as a memory of the house designed by his father (his late father), also wished to adapt it to their current lifestyle, which at first glance seemed to be a contradictory desire. They also wanted to have a space with outside where they could spend time with their friends, using camping equipment and other hobbies. In addition, they wanted to improve the current faint darkness of the living and dining rooms.

photo_credit Nacasa&Partners/Miyuki Kaneko — Nacasa&Partners/Miyuki Kaneko

The Japanese-style room on the southwest side of the serial room was lowered one level from the normal level to create an earthen floor space and a place to stay, and the existing traditional Japanese-style room was made to look like an art showcase and participate in the space. Since it would be an unused (and invisible) place if it were made to stand alone as a room, we thought that there might be a way of architecture by having it in a position where it is always visible.

The partitions between rooms were removed to create a large one-room, made spaces and places that is connected to the outside.

By reversing the climbing position of the central staircase and swinging the angle about 11 degrees, the density of the place was changed by adding movement to the static, orderly space.

With little modification to the exterior, the original parking lot and Japanese-style garden have been reversed to accommodate the interior spaces, and the deck is an extension of the living room.

We selected the materials with the idea that the ribbed cedar panels on the ceiling would mediate between the old and fresh materials that would appear through the renovation and the new elements (plastered walls, hardwood flooring, simple white walls, etc.). The house was built together with the client.