Yo Yamagata Architects

Gentle Layers

The site is nestled at the foot of a mountain in a natural Musashino forest of sawtooth oak and konara oak. The site is tucked away about 30 meters down a narrow driveway barely wide enough for one car to pass. There are two maple trees by the entrance of the property, like ice tops on this approach, and a large maple tree more than 10 meters high at the southern end of the property. The natural forest on the mountain to the west loomed over the site with such overwhelming volume that it was even intimidating. Given these unique site conditions, we first considered how to maximize the potential of the site. Just as the site is nestled up against the mountain, we imagined the building to be nestled up against the site.

Between the rich surrounding nature and the completely enclosed interior space, we wanted to set up several different areas of spatial openness and create a state in which they are loosely connected. Specifically, we envisioned the following five areas: 1. Untouched nature outside the site.　2. an artificial garden within the site; 3. an exterior space enclosed by architectural elements such as roofs, walls, and floors; 4. an open interior space that is wide open to the outside; 5. an interior space enclosed by walls; and 6. These five areas are arranged in a north-south direction to create a layer. Next, we add operations that deviate from these layers. For example, a hill penetrating into the garden as if it were continuous from the mountain, a terrace under a maple tree, a courtyard between the living room and dining room, a bathroom that juts out onto the terrace, and an approach space under the bedroom. These manipulations make the layered composition ambiguous and the areas intermingle and become chaotic.

The building is built in such a way that it is half filled in while taking advantage of the difference in level, where the ground level of the site rises 1 meter above the approach pathway. The height of the building is kept low, and it is modestly nestled against the green mountain on the west side. The excavated soil used to bury the building was used to create an artificial hill alongside the cliff on the south side of the site, preventing the cliff from collapsing and reducing the cost of disposing of the soil. The floors of the building are set at six different levels, which are gently divided and connected by steps lower than eye level. Various scenes traversing the layers unfold as one gently ascends the spiral from the approach passage to the terrace on the uppermost two floors.

As the five areas of different openness are loosely connected and intermingled, various relationships between "inside" and "outside" appear and disappear. We aimed to create a house where people can find a comfortable place to live according to the season, time of day, weather, and mood.