Ryuichi Sasaki Architecture's proposal for Escenario Hanabusayama focuses on the integration of light, air, and borrowed landscape. Each unit features openings on two sides to optimize ventilation and natural light, reducing reliance on mechanical systems. The street-facing façade presents a rhythmic grid of openings that connects the interior living spaces with the city, while framed views of the hillside vegetation reinterpret the traditional Japanese concept of shakkei, or borrowed landscape.
The building rests on a ten-meter-high cliff, ensuring structural stability. The interiors are finished in exposed concrete, whose texture and tone create a serene and meditative atmosphere. The interplay of light on these surfaces enhances the feeling of openness and calm, creating a tranquil dialogue between material and space that harmonizes urban life with the natural form of the terrain.
Escenario Meguro Hanabusayama by Ryuichi Sasaki Architecture. Photography by Takumi Ota Photography.
Project description by Ryuichi Sasaki Architecture
Ryuichi Sasaki Architecture, an internationally acclaimed and award-winning architectural design firm, is proud to unveil Escenario Hanabusayama, a twelve-unit residential complex located in one of Tokyo’s most tranquil hillside neighbourhoods. Drawing inspiration from the natural topography and layered geological formations of the site, the building translates the character of the land itself into an architectural expression of stillness and refinement.
Carving architecture from the earth
Surrounded by undulating terrain and historic residential zones dating back to the Edo period, Escenario Hanabusayama reflects the strata and slopes of its environment in both form and materiality. The façade—accented with elongated, slanted ridges—evokes layers of rock, while the approach and boundary walls incorporate slender stone patterns and gentle inclines reminiscent of natural formations. The exposed concrete exterior, as if cut directly from the cliff, anchors the building into the landscape, blurring the boundary between structure and terrain.
Integrating light, air, and borrowed scenery
Behind the site lies a ten-meter-high cliff with no openings, ensuring structural stability, while the street-facing elevation opens generously with a rhythmic grid of square apertures connecting the interior life to the city. Each unit features openings on two sides to optimize natural ventilation and illumination, minimizing dependence on mechanical systems. Residents enjoy framed views of the lush greenery atop the hill—an architectural reinterpretation of shakkei, the traditional Japanese concept of borrowed landscape.
A calm dialogue between material and space
Inside, the concrete surfaces remain exposed, their fine texture and greige tones forming a serene backdrop for daily life. The interplay of light reflected across the surfaces enhances a sense of openness and calm, creating a refined, meditative living environment that quietly harmonizes urban living with the natural form of the land.
