Recently World Architecture News featured three houses in Japan constructed on unusually shaped plots of land. Each of these examples represents the creative potential of challenging conditions. All three designs strive to make the assets of the site even better.
Architects Alphaville faced a difficult plot of land in Osaka. They were challenged to fit a house in a narrow space that jogged around an existing house that needed to remain. Their solution called the House Twisted is a long building that snakes through the site. The twists in the roof created opportunities for windows to be placed allowing light to flood the interior.
Shigeru Kuwahara Architects were asked to design a house for a couple and their dog in the town of Kanagawa. The couple purchased a small, irregularly shaped trapezoid plot of land adjacent to a park. The couple loved having a view of nature, a rarity for urban residents in Japan. The architects wanted to maximize the potential of the view in the design of the house. The tall house they created offers large shielded windows that frames the view. The plan of the house created three wings each separated by it’s own garden area.
Torafu Architects were contacted by a couple looking for a smaller single story house now that they were empty-nesters. They had lived in Yokohama for many years and found a site they wanted to build on. The land was on a hill and shaped like a triangle that narrowed at one end to 10 feet wide. The couple wanted a light filled home but existing taller houses on either side that casted a lot of shade offered the architects a challenge. Their solution was to create tubes out of the interior rooms and cap each of them with windows. The architects wanted there to be a visual dialog between the outside of the house and the inside. The roof shapes describe the light catching function of the house, while on the interior they serve as distinctive separations of space.
[ via WAN: Alphaville, Shigeru Kuwahara Architects, Torafu Architects ]
