This compact private residence is nestled within the dense expanse of Tokyo, in Nishi-Azabu—a neighborhood characterized by narrow streets and traditional low-rise houses—which borders a park heavily visited during the spring, when the city’s cherry trees begin to bloom. Its 136-square-meter volume consists of five horizontally divided spaces, each connected by a minuscule sculptural spiraling staircase that, given the footprint of the house, allows for loft-like spaces within its intimate confines.

Oversized windows punctuate the house, each with two layers of glazing; one is transparent and one is of the same relief glass that wraps the façade. These oversized windows, with their dual layers of glazing, can be countlessly reconfigured, to regulate the interior flow of daylight.

 

Description of the project by WAA

Both the transparent and relief glass of the house’s windows slides on tracks, which extend to double the width of each, for unobstructed views. They also extend to the floor, to ensure that the house remains responsive to passing street life. When closed, they cloak the house within an iridescent texture. On the ground floor, one of these windows serves as the main entry, and slides open to reveal the kitchen. Each level has a different program: the lowermost consists of storage and technical spaces; the lower two bedrooms, permeated by daylight via sliver windows that span the full length of the house, at street level; the kitchen and dining room occupy the ground floor; the living room the first; and the uppermost a master suite, with a wooden ofuro.

A small terrace is attached to the master bedroom, yet it is expansive, relative to the house’s size. Its northeastern wall is composed of the same textured glazing that shields the house’s windows, except that there is no layer of transparent glass behind it, as the terrace is completely open to the exterior elements. When retracted, a balustradeless view toward the park suddenly appears. When closed, the view is obstructed, which introverts the terrace and imparts privacy within this publicly exposed level of the house. Conversely, the southwestern wall of the terrace is also the pinnacle of the house’s textured façade, into which a cut was created to introduce ample interior daylight to the master suite. The cut left a void in that wall of the terrace, which in turn created an enveloping exterior space, roofed only by the sky.

Due to the house’s slender site, a fold was created along its southern façade, angled so that it retreats from the street-site boundary at ground level; it provides just enough space for a Smart car. Subtly bold when seen from afar, the house blends into its context. And when all of its windows are opened, or when a combination of several are open and closed, the house morphs to expose its kaleidoscopic qualities to the neighborhood and its residents. Structurally, it is composed of concrete, and is earthquake proof in accordance with stringent local regulations. Centrally sited within Tokyo, with the possibility to turn toward the city, or retreat into itself, all in multiple configurations; A’ House is an idiosyncratic private residence engaged in a continual dialogue with its traditional context, which simultaneously anticipates the future.

CREDITS.

Project team.- Wiel Arets, Satoru Umehara, Alex Kunnen.
Collaborators.- Jörg Lüthke, Jean-Jacques Jungers, Sadamu Shirafuji, Ilze Paklone
Client.- Arets-Sijstermans
Consultants.- Tai Mikio Architect & Associates, LOW FAT Structure INC, EOS plus Co. LTD, Comodo Co. LTD, Oskomera Group BV, Saint Gobain Glass, Eiger Co. LTD.

Size.- 136.00 m²
Date of design.- 2007-2009.
Date of completion.- Autumn 2014.

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Wiel Arets was born in 1955. In 1984 he established Wiel Arets Architect & Associates in his hometown of Heerlen, the Netherlands, after graduating from the Technical University of Eindhoven. From 1984-1989 he extensively travelled throughout North America, Russia and Japan. 1986 he co-founded the architectural journal Wiederhall. In 1988 he began teaching at the AA in London, paving the way for a future in worldwide academic and research-based teaching. In 1993 construction commenced on his design for the Academy of Art & Architecture, in Maastricht, the Netherlands, propelling him into the world of internationally recognized architectural prestige.

Wiel Arets' teaching curriculum vitae includes the world's most important and influential architecture schools and universities, including: the Architectural Academies of Amsterdam and Rotterdam from 1986-1989; the AA of London from 1988-1992; from 1991-1994 he was a visiting professor at The Copper Union and Columbia University in New York, USA, the Hochschule für Angewandte Kunst in Vienna and the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts in Copenhagen; from 1995-1998 he was Dean of the Berlage Institute, Postgraduate Laboratory of Architecture in Amsterdam, and held the Berlage Institute Professorship at the Technical University Delft until 2009; in 2004 he accepted tenure professorship at the UdK in Berlin; in 2010 he was the Ruth and Norman Moore Visiting Professor at Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri, USA. Since 2003 he has served on the advisory board of Princeton University.

Wiel Arets' projects have been bestowed and honored with some of the highest achievements in architecture and product design: the 2010 "Amsterdam Architecture Prize", the 2010 "Good Design Award" for the Alessi products Salt.it, Pepper.it, Screw.it and Il Bagno dOt, the "BNA Kubus Award" for the entire oeuvre in 2005, the "UIA Nomination" as one of "the world’s one thousandth best buildings of the 20th century" for the Academy of Art & Architecture, Maastricht, the "Rietveld Prize" in 2005 for the University Library Utrecht, the "Mies van der Rohe Pavilion Award for European Architecture" with special mention "Emerging Architect" in 1994 for the Academy of Art & Architecture in Maastricht, the "Rotterdam Maaskant Award" in 1989 for the oeuvre, the "Charlotte Köhler Award" in 1988.




 

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Published on: December 24, 2014
Cite: "A' House by Wiel Arets Architects. Glass coated house" METALOCUS. Accessed
<https://www.metalocus.es/en/news/a-house-wiel-arets-architects-glass-coated-house> ISSN 1139-6415
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