House in Osaka

Osaka, Japan

Photo © Yoshiyuki Hirai

Drawing © Keiichi Hayashi Architect

Single Houses

Architects: Keiichi Hayashi Architect

Location: Osaka, Japan
Year: 2008

This site is located in a dense residential area, where the plots are heavily divided into narrow shapes. The east side of this site directly faces on the wide street, but the other three sides are contiguous to the walls of the neighbors. In this small site, a house for a family and a roof for a tortoise are designed.

Hollows for a pond and tree, which needs some depth, are made to create the environment of the roof. In one hollow, water is filled in as a pond, and in another hollow, a tree with sand is planted. These hollows directly appear as projections on the ceiling inside the house, which are a reflection of the environment of the roof. The projections do not have any functions; they just appear as steel cubes on the ceiling. In this house, it is not important to bring the environment of the roof into the house directly, but it is essential to affect residents activities by suddenly appearing the projections as the back side of the overhead environment.