House in Sonobe by Tato Architects/Yo Shimada
07/10/2019.
[Nantan - Kyoto] Japan
metalocus, BLANCA VÁZQUEZ
metalocus, BLANCA VÁZQUEZ
Description of project by Tato Architects/Yo Shimada
This house stands in a new residential district in the mountains which was first put up for sale in the 1990s. The region has a slightly cool, wet climate, and looking at the other houses in the vicinity, you can see that many of them feature lean-to-sheds desgined as a small sunroom which were made by enclosing their back entrance or veranda with corrugated polycarbonate panels.
These so-called ‘terrace enclosures’ are used in winter as storehouses, or as places for drying laundry-clever feature which represents, as we realized, a certain style shared among the various new mass-produced houses of the residential district. We used these terrace enclosures as inspiration for the materials and functions of our sunroom, and also incorporated a wide-eaved terrace and other semi-outdoor spaces into the interior of the house.
Our expectation was that these would act as interfaces with the surrounding environment. Regarding the volume of the house, we used a simple square grid and its diagonal to create different spaces such as one that is inti mately sized, and another containing a spacious void. To each of these, we attached semi-outdoor spaces. The wall of the sunroom is made from a large hanging door which can slide open to turn the sunroom into an out door area, or enclose the second floor space under the eaves into an indoor area.
On the south side of the site, we followed the example of the neighborhood lean-to sheds and provided an alcove and storage space. Around the house at the center of the site, we piled up the earth dug out during the foundation works in an attempt to reclaim the original slope that existed before the site was developed into atiered platform. This reclaimed mound of earth will be covered in grass, and, with time, the owners will make it into a garden.
The interior is finished using Moiss material which catches light and regulates humidity. Glass inserted at the boundary alternately reflects and permeates light. Like facets of a crystal, this house embodies a variety of interior scenery intermixed with landscapes from both near and far.
Yo Shimada borns in Kobe, Japan (1972), is graduated by the Kyoto City University of Arts in 1994, and graduated in the post graduate course of Kyoto City University of Arts in 1996. In 1997 he establishs Tato Architects in Kobe Japan.
Based in his home town of Kobe, Tato Architects undertakes projects throughout various locations in Japan. The projects are mainly private houses; however, in recent years the office has taken on assignments for interior and installation work as well. The ideology of the practice is to formulate positive outcomes through understanding the subtle conditions and constraints of everyday life, which exist within notions of place, culture and the ongoing history of architecture.
These ideas have been further discussed in publications such as, 7iP #04 YO SHIMADA(7inchproject, 2012)and Everyday Design Everyday : Yo Shimada (Contemporary Architect’s Concept Series 22,2016)
The name Tato (タト)is derived from the decomposition of the kanji character 外(outside), which can be read in multiple ways. Tato Architects is interested in the process of continuous exploration, in order to achieve a kind of ambiguity in its architecture; an architecture that renews itself through the perspective of people's everyday experiences. Furthermore, the practice aims to create an architecture that quietly alters people's consciousness.
Awards
1994 4th Japan Art Scholarship(Aoyama Spiral garden,TOKYO), Special Prize.
1999 1st ELLE DECO Japan award, Grand Prix.
2004 1st Wooden Architectural Space Design Competition, Superior Prize.
2011 1st Art project competition of kobe Biennale, Prize.
2011 Kanden house design competition 2011, Superior Prize.
2013 LIXIL design Contest Gold Prize
2013 Asia Pacific Property Award Architecture Single Residence, Highly Commended
2013 Yoshioka Prize
2016 Architectural Design Association of Nippon Awards, Grand Prize
2016 AIA Brisbane Regional Awards, House of the Year Award
2016 AIA State Award, Queensland Architecture Awards
2016 AIA National Commendation, National Architecture Awards