House in Ashitaka by Kazuo Shinohara
21/02/2017.
[Ashitaka] Japan
metalocus, CLAUDIA CENDOYA
metalocus, CLAUDIA CENDOYA
Designed in 1977 by Kazuo Shinohara, the housing in Ashitaka (Japan) forms part of a series of concrete houses designed by the architect in the 1970s. The assimilation of the Japanese architectural tradition in the design process of contemporary architecture, a main feature in many works of Shinohara, is particularly evident in this house, whose composition is heir to the vernacular "chise".
Exterior view. House in Ashitaka by Kazuo Shinohara. Image © Kazuo Shinohara.
Interior view. House in Ashitaka by Kazuo Shinohara. Image © Kazuo Shinohara.
Interior view. House in Ashitaka by Kazuo Shinohara. Image © Kazuo Shinohara.
Floor plans. House in Ashitaka by Kazuo Shinohara.
Elevation. House in Ashitaka by Kazuo Shinohara.
Render. House in Ashitaka by Kazuo Shinohara.
Exterior view. House in Ashitaka by Kazuo Shinohara. Image © Kazuo Shinohara.
This type of traditional housing comes from the Ainu Kotan area (Hokkaido island) and is built with vegetal materials: bamboo, grass, etc. Kazuo Shinohara reinterpreted in stark concrete the properties of these traditional houses. The stance of the architect regarding housing and its role in contemporary architecture differs from his coetaneous Japanese metabolism, making housing in the central element of his speech, even claiming that "houses are art".
In this way, we could say that house in Ashitaka is a confluence of Shinohara's interpretation of japanese tradition and his views regarding housing, which led to Shinohara's deviation of the metabolist technocracy to the intimate and small scale architecture. The exterior of the housing, of a simplistic character, leads the visitor to an intimate and, at first sight, little expectable interior. Shinohara expertly interweaves these two realities so that their coexistence is not strident, but an obvious reality.
In this way, we could say that house in Ashitaka is a confluence of Shinohara's interpretation of japanese tradition and his views regarding housing, which led to Shinohara's deviation of the metabolist technocracy to the intimate and small scale architecture. The exterior of the housing, of a simplistic character, leads the visitor to an intimate and, at first sight, little expectable interior. Shinohara expertly interweaves these two realities so that their coexistence is not strident, but an obvious reality.
In his ‘Conversation with students’ Valerio Olgiati refers to Shinohara’s Ashitaka House with these words: "When you look at the plans, it looks simple at first. When you look at the building, you think there is a direct affinity between what you see on the outside and what you expect on the inside. Shinohara lets secrecy and straight-forwardness coexist, so much that one could define the houses as being shizophrenic. However, there are always those moments when two seemingly disparate systems overlap because Shinohara carefully omits to build borders between two things. So, it is not a collage. The two realms are not pasted together. They remain separate but still communicate something that is beyond what each disparate system can suggest on its own. The complexity in Shinohara’s architecture is achieved by means of a certain ambivalence that mysteriously nits the entire work together. I find this interesting because it appears less logical but at the same time it is very logical."
More information
Architect
Kazuo Shinohara
Location
Ashitaka, Japan
Date
1977
Kazuo SHINOHARA
Kazuo Shinohara (born in Shizuoka in 1925-2006), completed his bachelor’s degree in mathematics at the Tokyo University of Science in 1947, he decided to pursue a second degree in architecture following a visit to the famous temple complexes of Nara. The historical temples held such fascination over him that he enrolled to study architecture at the Tokyo Institute of Technology (TIT) in 1950. He graduated in Architecture in 1953 and established his own practice in 1954. He has designed more than 30 housings and some public buildings in Japan, such as the TIT Centennial Hall (1987) and the Ukiyo-e Museum in Matsumoto (1982). Shinohara also starts a teaching career in the TIT in 1970. In addition to a series of theoretical writings, Kazuo Shinohara’s oeuvre consists mainly of smaller residential buildings.
Shinohara has received many national and international awards, being the following especially significant: The Architectural Institute of Japan great award in 205 and the commemorative Golden Lion of the Venice Biennale in 2010.
Shinohara has received many national and international awards, being the following especially significant: The Architectural Institute of Japan great award in 205 and the commemorative Golden Lion of the Venice Biennale in 2010.
