The home, designed by Japanese architect Fumihito Ohashi for a young family of three is in Komono-town, Mie-district, Mie Prefecture.
The site commands a view of the Suzuka mountains to the north-west, and to the east spread the rice fields of the peaceful suburbs of a low density residential area.
The north and east faces are road boundaries.
The requests from the owner were, to generally use the area as a single room, to be able to partition the space when necessary, to be able to live happily with their cat, and to live comfortably while enjoying the surrounding scenery.
In response to these requests, the main family living areas (the living room in particular) were arranged so that they are enclosed by the areas facing the roads. These areas were placed so that on the first floor there are the entrance and closet, stairs and tatami space, on the second floor the inner terrace referred to as the "Engawa", along with the child's room, and on the loft floor there is the "Engawa."
Various small and large sized openings in each space allow the family to thoroughly enjoy views of rice fields and sky, mountains, neighboring gardens, etc..
In addition, a number of openings between adjacent rooms have been provided in order to help build relationships with continuity.
When you are in the living room, various things that make up the house appear and disappear. Also, the placement of the openings has been designed so that the scenery you can enjoy changes depending on where you are in the room.
This is considered in light of the ecology of the cat who will be living with them.
Cats are very good at seeking out cozy spots.
Rather than defining lifestyles based on the names and functions of rooms, isn't it better for people to seek out comfortable places and stay there? I studied the possibilities of such places.
I will describe some of the characteristic spaces.
On the first floor next to the kitchen there is a back yard with an atrium, and this serves as a source of natural light for the pantry, dish display and kitchen.
On the second floor there are furniture-like shelves in two places that serve as steps to go up to and down from the loft. The "Engawa" on the loft floor is open in two directions, to allow the movement of people and the circulation of air.
These rooms, which are certainly not large, and have a variety of individual characters, create a relaxing place like the lair of an animal, and can also join to make one large room.
Photo : Ippei Shinzawa
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