The house is located on the outskirts of Nakano City in northeastern NaganoPrefecture,in an area with abundant nature and a view of KitashigaKogen’sMt.Kosha to the east. Apple orchards and a cluster of houses thatline the old road surrounded the site, while the elevated tracks of theHokuriku Shinkansen scheduled to begin service in a couple of years, runnorth-south through nearby fields. The client - a couple in their 30s with onechild - wanted a plan that made allowances for the adjacent main house andwas aggressive in incorporating the view of Mt.Kosha.
The building is set on the site’s southeast side, forming with the main house an L-shape around the existing garden. It was possible to open up the entire east side of the building, the one with the view, because it faces appleorchards with plenty of distance to the nearest neighbor. The house isdefined by two structural elements from which derive the variousrelationships between the view and its spaces. The first is its stepped terrace-the exterior circulation space that rises through the building from groundfloor to rooftop. The second is the interior circulation space that surrounds it- a covered passageway winding from the first floor up through themezzanine to the second. The three-dimensional interaction of theseelements at various levels gives the space a pleasant sense of distance.
Views of the outside are controlled by placing a mezzanine level 1.2 metersbelow the living and dining area on the opposite side of the stepped terrace. From the living and dining area Mt.Kosha can be seen in the distance across the terrace above the mezzanine, whose windows frame foreground views of the apple orchards. The gap between floor slab and stepped terraceprescribes each of the spaces, generating landscape views through theunexpected relationship between them.
The insertion of exterior circulation space ( the stepped deck ) into the building generates sequential changes to the views from it. By establishing diverse lines of flow within the house , the plan attempts to suggest a new relationship between space and scenery.
