Takashige Yamashita Office architecture firm was commissioned to create a new reception for the hotel at the entrance to the Takanenomorino forest, located on a hillside next to the road that leads to Mount Fuji from Gotemba, in Shizuoka, Japan.

The area, known as Takane, is part of a huge forest where a small stream murmurs along with a very close and clear view of Mount Fuji to the west.
The place where Takashige Yamashita designed the new reception is an area with a spectacular landscape, an area that despite its natural scenery, is still easily accessible from the city center, just 15 minutes by car from the central area from Gotemba city.

The client requested an administration space that would generate a welcome place as an entrance to the entire project.

Takashige Yamashita proposed a new building, in the area closest to the access, with a special roof whose curved fold allows a dialogue that frames the views of Mount Fuji, and a rectangular layout that dialogues with the orientation of the hotel units already built.


Hotel Reception on the Ridge by Takashige Yamashita Office. Photograph by Kai Nakamura
 

Project description by Takashige Yamashita Office

Sitting on the hillside beside the street running towards Mountain Fuji from Gotemba, Shizuoka, the Reception annex greets visitors to hotel lodges spreading out on the wide landscape.

The area, called Takane, is part of a huge forest where a small stream is murmuring along with a very close and clear view of Mt. Fuji to the west.

Despite its huge natural background, this site is still quite easy to access from the city center, located only 15-minute-drive away from the central area of Gotemba city and convenient to reach from the nearest highway interchange as well. The client has been planning to organize accommodation facilities in this area, and a main management annex was required to set up a welcome spot as an entrance to the entire project.

In our perception, wooden cottages in a simple gable roof scattered across the hill landscape, each to be used as a private hotel room for group visitors, were part of given natural environment among which the reception would also sit in. We suggested the admin building to resonate its surroundings, keeping the order of others, while twisting and creating its own rules to extend the design further.

The façade facing the street displays a primitive sectional outline harmonized with the other houses at first glance, somehow one side of the roof stretches low then rises in curve towards the direction of Mt. Fuji, providing an indigenous scenery from the lounge under the inverted-vault ceiling. The rectangular volume, slightly shifted to touch the round edge of the roof at its corner, also expands itself in a differentiated arrangement yet without changing the orientation. This particular movement extending the gable roof in a curvilinear way engenders the welcoming gesture of the eaves at the entrance that open up like drapes drawn to the side. We expect the Reception on the ridge to be a place for integrating the grand nature and the hotel units both visually and emotionally to salute visitors to the area as a whole.

More information

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Architects
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Takashige Yamashita Office. Lead Architect.- Takashige Yamashita.
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Project team
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Project Designer.- YoungAh Kang.
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Collaborators
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Structure Engineer.- Kozo Keisaku Engineering, Kozo Keikaku Engineering.
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Contractor
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Tombo Sougo Kensetsu.
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Area
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Site area.- 8069.34m².
Building area.- 130.91m².
Total built area.- 122.56m².
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Dates
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Completed.- 8/2021.
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Venue / location
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Gotemba, Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan.
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Photography
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Kai Nakamura.
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Takashige Yamashita. Principal of Takashige Yamashita Office / Qualified first class architect in Japan. Obtained a Bachelors degree in Architecture from Tokai University in 2002, and a Master’s degree in Architecture from Tokyo University of Arts in 2005. After working for ‘Kazuyo Sejima + Ryue Nishizawa / SANAA’ from 2005 until 2015, founded Takashige Yamashita Office. Currently a part-time lecturer at Tokai University and Kyoto University of the Arts.

YoungAh Kang. Graduated from the University of Toronto with BA in Architecture in 2009 and left MArch at the University of Pennsylvania in 2011 to work at ‘Kazuyo Sejima + Ryue Nishizawa / SANAA’. Upon completion of MArch (DRL) at the Architectural Association School of Architecture in 2016, joined Takashige Yamashita Office in 2017. Currently a part-time lecturer at Tokyo Designer Gakuin.

Awards​
・Japan Architecture of the Year 2021 Selected by the JIA「Clinic in the woods」(2021)
​・Fukuyama Police Station Competition, 2nd place entry(2021)
・Kumamoto Artpolis Project - Everfield Wood Factory Competition, Finalist(2020)
・Taipei International Design Award「Toranoko Nursery」Bronze Prize(2019/Taiwan)
・Architecture Asia Awards for Emerging Architects「Toranoko Nursery」Gold Prize(2019/Malaysia)
・AIJ Young Architects Award for Selected Architectural Designs「Toranoko Nursery」(2019)
・Bauwelt Award 2019:First Works「Toranoko Nursery」Prize Winner(2019/Germany)
​・Japan Architecture of the Year 2017 Selected by the JIA「Toranoko Nursery」(2017)

Exhibitions
・BAU 2019「Toranoko Nursery」(2019/Messe Muenchen/Germany)
・Presentation「Y project -NAR-」(2018/GA Gallery/Tokyo)
・ATARASHII KENCHIKU NO TANOSHISA「N project -2NO-」 (2018/Re-Sohko Gallery/Tokyo)
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Published on: February 5, 2022
Cite: "Bending over to look at Mount Fuji. Takanenomorino Forest Hotel Reception by Takashige Yamashita " METALOCUS. Accessed
<https://www.metalocus.es/en/news/bending-over-look-mount-fuji-takanenomorino-forest-hotel-reception-takashige-yamashita> ISSN 1139-6415
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