Yoshichika Takagi + Associates

House I In Japan

House I In Japan
© Toshiyuki Yano

HOUSE I

Yoshichika Takagi

LOCATION
Akita, Japan

CATEGORY
Houses

AREA
100.0 m²

YEAR
2010

PHOTOGRAPHS
Toshiyuki Yano

MANUFACTURERS
Lixil Corporation, Panasonic

The site is in the centre of Akita City where urban functions are situated.

House I In Japan
© Toshiyuki Yano
House I In Japan
© Toshiyuki Yano
House I In Japan
© Toshiyuki Yano

Despite its urban location, this is a special place as it is surrounded by car parks.

Considering that the space is exposed to public eyes in all four directions, it is essential to sustain the elements of privacy, but at the same time, our aim is to drop frontality from its façade.

In order to keep privacy, it is sensible to keep the rooms within the enclosure, and it also helps with the indoor environment in the northern climate.

House I In Japan
© Toshiyuki Yano
House I In Japan
© Toshiyuki Yano

However, enclosure would give a closed feeling, hence the task is to find a way to layout spaces that are closed enough to keep privacy and would also at the same time give an extensive feeling to the space outside.

First, we made a list of facilities that would require enclosure; kitchen, bathroom, toilet, bedroom and storage room, all of which would be enclosed in box-shaped spaces.

House I In Japan
© Toshiyuki Yano
House I In Japan
© Toshiyuki Yano

A collection of these spaces are gathered like pleats, which create many gap areas in various sizes.

This complex structure of these gap spaces gives depth to the whole place as well as an illusion that there is more space beyond what is visible.

The frames installed in the walls of the boxes overlap with one another, and the whole place looks like a combination of facing mirrors depicting different sceneries.

House I In Japan
© Toshiyuki Yano
House I In Japan
© Toshiyuki Yano
House I In Japan
© Toshiyuki Yano

We designed this house on simple rules based on 2 factors:

rooms that need to be enclosed should be kept in boxes and rooms that do not need to be enclosed are in the gaps between boxes.

By applying these rules, the space is presented with a complex structure that gives a feeling of extensive space.

House I In Japan
© Toshiyuki Yano


House I In Japan
© Toshiyuki Yano
House I In Japan
© Toshiyuki Yano
House I In Japan
© Toshiyuki Yano
House I In Japan
© Toshiyuki Yano


House I In Japan
Elevation - Section


House I In Japan
Floor Plan
House I In Japan
Site Plan

Yoshichika Takagi + Associates
T +81 11 769 9071 F +81 11 769 9071
Yoshichika Takagi + Associates
11-5-9 shinkotoni9jo kita-ku, sapporo hokkaido 001-0909 japan