House House
The site is located in a quiet residential neighborhood on the Chuo Railway Line. The frontal road of the site has very little traffic be they vehicular or pedestrian and there is a sloping park just opposite. There is a river to the behind the site and the hazard map of the ward marks this area as flood-prone.
Vertical dimensions of the house were firstly determined by two factors, namely the flood water level and the sunshade regulation. Here, the first floor level was raised 700mm from the ground plane to avoid flooding. Elevating the first floor level allowed a large window on the front façade to open up to the park while securing privacy. The window ledge is set at 900mm from the floor which translates to 1,600mm from the street and we found that this level difference makes the sight line of the pedestrians almost negligible to the inhabitants. In addition, the black interior finish designed to enhance the greenery outside made it more difficult to look into the house. The inhabitants are a family of four and an elderly grandfather. The first floor has all the living needs for the grandfather and four rooms for each family member are scattered around a sky-lit, central void space on the upper floor. Each private room has a loft space of about mq each and they are accessed from the room by either going up or down ladders. Each of the rooms and lofts have opening to the white void space to allow presence of the family members to seep out.
Exterior features of the house are smooth silver paint applied on the surface of exterior mortar on insulation boards and bay windows. Interior features are a large opening of the black salle and five small openings punctured on the interior walls of the white void space floating above. The sloped ceiling of the white void space follows the pitch of the roof and this, together with the walls brings into view an inverted white house which seems to float in midair. The name ‘House House’ is derived from this impression.
Principal Architect: Taku Sakaushi
Architect: Yusuke Sagawa
