D house. Arad & ISSHO Coll.

Shibuya, Japan

Add To Collection

D house. Arad & ISSHO Coll.

Shibuya, Japan

Firm

Weiss Co.

Type

Residential › Private House

STATUS

Built

YEAR

2015

SIZE

1000 sqft - 3000 sqft

BUDGET

$1M - 5M

In the first meeting, RAA had come up with two concepts which had nothing to do with what we had initially dreamed of. We were thinking of a very prominent straight lines industrial look that will somehow project strength and masculinity, like a faceted gem. Instead and to my initial surprise, the concepts presented were round, feminine and inviting. I've never neglected an idea of mine so quickly as I did when I saw Arad's initial concept drawings. The design was speaking the Arad language and saying " This is what you ask for when you approach Arad". I find it hard to describe my feeling at the time, even connotations would be understatements. It was love at first sight. The design was not only for the house, it was for people living in it, for the neighborhood, for the passers-by. It complimented not only visually but functionally . It is wrapping without covering (light), protecting without hiding (temperature), allowing the house residents to live in house that is alive. Not only a piece of art but a genius structure.
The concept was chosen (one of two basically similar ones) and developed within a few meetings to fit our Tokyo living usage, the building regulation restrictions and the budget. All communications between the teams, London and Tokyo were smooth when it came to professional data. In total we had 6 video conference meetings with all parties online, each lasted about 30 minutes, mostly spent on personal views of people involved which would have been lost in written correspondences.
Arad had initially envisioned a remote controlled sliding mesh parking 'curtain' that would separate the house from the street but had to be given up for budget reasons. We shot quite a few back and forth ideas about the materials to be used, some were very innovative, some seemed less available or harder to find a fabricator for, we

decided on the steel plates and started looking for a fabricator. There seemed to be very few steel fabricators whom would be able to do the job. Working with Cad files, producing laser precise cuts, using advanced steel shaping techniques and having the skilled manpower to put it all tight and together, we found one . The fact there was only one-off and not many to be made, deterred other able fabricators from bidding for the project.
At this point, RAA put up a teaser about the project on their website. Not a week passed and we had a few international , professional and fashion magazines inquire about the project requesting rights to communicate it. We requested to remain anonymous and did not agree for the house to be featured in the Media before it was built. The main reason was our objection to use CAD illustrations . We thought that the impact would be so much stronger if the real house was featured. CAD designs are virtual and though very beautiful, can not give real impressions . What if the project never completed ? What if we would get stuck down the line with no remaining budget ?
Interiors were out of RAA's scope but having Mr. Vera helped with keeping a similar spirit inside as well, with special emphasis on the living room / dining kitchen , entrance outside the door and inside.
It took 25 months from conception to completion of 522, out of which 14 months spent on design and castings , 7 months actual building .