Curved Wall House

Sapporo, Japan

Photo © Koji Sakai

Single Houses

Architects: Akasaka Shinichiro Atelier

Location: Sapporo, Japan
Year: 2018

This house is located near a historical park in the city of Sapporo. It is one of the regional characteristics of Sapporo that people often move by car rather than public transport. Yet, the road in front of the house is one-way only, so entrance to the garage and turning direction of the client’s car would be limited. To facilitate car movement, we adopted the shape of the house to the radius which car turning movements would need.

In Sapporo, where annual snowfall reaches about 6m, eaves are useful for areas such as those near the entrance as well as those near car garage. This way, we created a wide balcony, which also creates privacy for the second floor from passers-by. The second floor, which is the main area in the house, is visually connected with the park, invites the greenery of the park inside the house and creates a quality of a private garden

This "curvature" motif, which gives the house a unique expression, also plays a role of implying functional boundaries and people's flow lines, repeatedly appearing in various exterior and interior scenes.