This is a residential house located in the densely populated periphery of Osaka, surrounded by small traditional commercial houses. By combining simple manipulations and traditional elements such as the earthen floor (Japanese Doma), we created a space that is simple but has dynamic nuances.
The interior space of this house is effectuated by the combination of a macro-manipulation and a micro-manipulation. On the one hand, in order to invoke a distinct sense of flow and continuity, we bent a rectangular volume twice according to the shape of the site. The skylights created by the three oppositely slanted roofs permit natural light from the south to percolate the entire interior space.
On the other hand, three openings serve as interfaces between the inside and the outside: the porch, the kitchen door and the courtyard door. Each of the openings faces the interior at the 45 degree angles. Those openings, along with the fixed furniture and the kitchen booth, creates a variety of spaces within a single volume.
We successfully completed a harmonious whole as a result of both the urban-scale macro-manipulation of the whole building and the interior-scale micro-manipulation of the partitioning walls and furniture. The interior space is filled with ephemeral folds of light and shadow that add depth and gradation to the otherwise homogeneous white space. Moving throughout the house, a cumulative sense of revelation and discovery develops as perspective of the space continually shifts.
