House in Iwakuni

[Scenery created by four buildings and four gardens]
In a quiet residential area located near the center of Iwakuni City, Yamaguchi Prefecture.
On the west side of the site is a shrine with many visitors, and a beautiful view of the row of mountains can be seen in the distance. So, I wanted to make the building’s opening on this side. However, the eyes come from various directions, and I also needed to cope with the strong sunshine from the west. I made a plan of various connections between the surrounding environment and the building, in addition to the owner’s request of living an open life of viewing green.
Based on the size of the site, a large garden can be made on the south side, but the relationship between the rooms and the garden would be unbalanced. So, I divided the house into four units in consideration of the lighting, wind, and surrounding buildings. Also, I arranged four characteristic gardens in consideration of the connection to the units: spacious south garden with enough distance from the neighboring land, west garden protected by the fence, north garden incorporating indirect light and promoting the flow of the wind, and an alley garden opening to the road. As a result, the buildings and gardens are placed in a checkered pattern, and the connection to the gardens was produced from various perspectives. Also, the corridor connects the buildings and gardens from north to south; thus, daily movement is closely related to the four gardens. The corridor is so generously wide that it can be used as a part of the exterior terrace and as a part of a room by placing furniture in the right places. Thus, it plays the role of an inner terrace that produces various actions. The alley garden opening to the road is extended to the west connecting road and plays a role beyond a private garden by inducing community as an opening to the surrounding environment.
I handled the buildings and the gardens equally in the design instead of making gardens on the margins after building the house, which I think leads to the richness of this residence.

date: 2018.03
use: House
structure: Wooden