Le Corbusier's "Dom-Ino system", which enable to have maximam floor, has spread all over the world. But repetition of the floor divides a space and makes a monotonous section. There is a common problem with a small residence, the floor divides the space strongly, and we lose the relationship between the 1st floor and the 2nd floor.
Interior view of building wood structure. Amida House by Kochi Architect's Studio.
On the other hand, Le Corbusier said that architecture is three dimentional relationship in "Five points of architecture". "Pilotis" relates to downward, "Free planning", "Free facade" and "Ribbon window" make a relation to horizontal space, "Roof garden" makes a relation to upper space. But he didn't say "free section". Because "Free planning" and "free section" are opposite concepts, as you can see in the Dom-Ino system.
At the start of this project, I thought about a "free section" to make a three-dimensional relationship of the space. I renovated the drawing of Dom-ino by sliding the floor up and down, while keeping the position of the post. The section looks like "Amida-kuji", which is a very popular lot in Japan. When we draw "Amida-kuji", at first we draw a vertical line (post), then we draw a horizontal line (floor) freely. That is the same way to design the Amida house. This project began as a renovation of the Dom-Ino system.
The site is located in a residential area in Shizuoka prefecture in Japan. There is a view of Mt.Fuji, which is the highest mountain in Japan, behind the westside neighbouring house (H=6.5m). At first I put a living floor on a 6m high. 14 floors are studied at random in a box. Each floor has a different function and different height, dining, kitchen, bedroom, bike garage, and display space, etc. Some floors have a view of Mt.Fuji, some floor is conecting to the ground, some floors open to the sky. Various scenes of space are layered in one space, and it makes a kind of high-density scenery of life.
Exterior view of building structure. Amida House by Kochi Architect's Studio.
Explanation for "Detail Section"
There is no wall which divide a space in the interior. There is an entrance in the middle of the height of the box. Public space (Living, Dining, Kitchen, Terrace) are located upstairs, and private space (Bedroom, bathroom) is located downstairs. The guest standing on dinning or living space can not see the private bathroom. I want to emphasise floors, so I put all structural walls in the exterior walls of the box. The thickness of the floor is reduced by supporting it with a thin steel post (45mmx45mm, 1820 span). And the top board of the closet is covered by the same material as the floor, and sized up to make the same appearance as the floor.
Building structure. Amida House by Kochi Architect's Studio.
Idea diagram. Amida House by Kochi Architect's Studio.
