Norimaki House

Photos: Kouji Okamoto

A house for the young couple situated at the middle of an existing housing area in a peripheral urban situation.

A plate characterized with black and white on each side structures the simple cubic volume. The plate starting from the ground evolves into the built area and enfolds three different continuous places. A dark and quiet place, a bright and open place and a place with an undisturbed view.

While each of the places are basically designed for sleeping, eating + relaxing and working, the relationship between places and behavior may change according to the season or the residents' lifestyle. The concrete fact is that places with different character are necessary for their daily lives.

The site is located at the end of a narrow dead-end street. Since both of the clients enjoy hang-gliding on the weekend, the entrance canopy is designed for storing hang-glider equipment. The west side garden is kept clear to handle the car with 6.5m long objects on top. The garden is directly connect to the ground floor entrance which leads to a small Tatami mat room covered with a black ceiling. Since the south and east side of the site is kept open to a fully occupied urban area, the first floor has a large openings to this direction. The loft floating in the flooring room is usually used as a working place for clients, which creates, cozy sitting place underneath.

By means of folding and unfolding, the shape of the building has been determined according to the context and functional requirements.