House in Hekida

Nagano, Japan

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House in Abiko

House in Hekida

Nagano, Japan

Firm

Fuse-Atelier

Type

Residential › Private House

YEAR

2010

The house is located on the outskirts of Nakano City in northeastern Nagano Prefecture, in an area with abundant nature and a view of Kitashiga Kogen’s Mt.Kosha to the east. Apple orchards and a cluster of houses that line the oldroad surrounded the site, while the elevated tracks of the Hokuriku Shinkansen scheduled to begin service in a couple of years, run north-south through nearby fields. The client - a couple in their 30s with one child - wanted a plan that made allowances for the adjacent main house and was aggressive in incorporating the view of Mt.Kosha.The building is set on the site’s southeast side, forming with the main housean L-shape around the existing garden. It was possible to open up the entireeast side of the building, the one with the view, because it faces apple orchards with plenty of distance to the nearest neighbor. The house is defined by two structural elements from which derive the various relationships between the view and its spaces. The first is its stepped terrace-the exterior circulation space that rises through the building from ground floor to rooftop. The second is the interior circulation space that surrounds it- a covered passageway winding from the first floor up through the mezzanine to the second. The three-dimensional interaction of these elements at various levels gives the space a pleasant sense of distance. Views of the outside are controlled by placing a mezzanine level 1.2 meters below the living and dining area on the opposite side of the stepped terrace.From the living and dining area Mt.Kosha can be seen in the distance acrossthe terrace above the mezzanine, whose windows frame foreground views ofthe apple orchards. The gap between floor slab and stepped terrace prescribes each of the spaces, generating landscape views through the unexpected relationship between them.The insertion of exterior circulation space ( the stepped deck ) into thebuilding generates sequential changes to the views from it. By establishingdiverse lines of flow within the house , the plan attempts to suggest a newrelationship between space and scenery.