Country life: tumbling down a precipitous cliffside site, this compact country house makes highly resourceful use of space.Based in Tokyo, the two partners in Atelier Bow-Wow, Yoshiharu Tsukamoto and Momoyo Kaijima, have made their name with a series of small houses that inventively exploit unpromising or marginalised urban conditions. This work both responds to and feeds a fascination with the evolving character of Tokyo, and their pop expressionist ex·pres·sion·ismn. A movement in the arts during the early part of the 20th century that emphasized subjective expression of the artist's inner experiences. ex·pres survey of the city's hybrid buildings (AR October 2001) has become a cult classic in its analysis of how architecture is obliged to mutate mu·tate intr. & tr.v. mu·tat·ed, mu·tat·ing, mu·tates To undergo or cause to undergo mutation. [Latin m and improvise im·pro·vise v. im·pro·vised, im·pro·vis·ing, im·pro·vis·es v.tr. 1. To invent, compose, or perform with little or no preparation. 2. in unexpected ways under economic, functional and cultural pressures. This more recent house on the Izu Peninsula Izu Peninsula Peninsula, central Honshu, Japan. It extends 37 mi (60 km) into the Pacific Ocean and consists largely of volcanic rock and highly eroded volcanoes. It is part of the Fuji-Hakone-Izu National Park, and its hot springs and warm winter climate are major tourist marks a temporary break with mining the fertile seams of Toyko's quixotic quix·ot·ic also quix·ot·i·cal adj. 1. Caught up in the romance of noble deeds and the pursuit of unreachable goals; idealistic without regard to practicality. 2. urban geology. Weary of city life, Bow-Wow's client wanted to uproot from Tokyo and enjoy the space and light of a coastal idyll idyll or idyl In literature, a simple descriptive work in poetry or prose that deals with rustic life or pastoral scenes or suggests a mood of peace and contentment. . Spread over a series of vertiginous ver·tig·i·nous adj. 1. Affected by vertigo; dizzy. 2. Tending to produce vertigo. vertiginous adjective Related to vertigo, dizzy terraces on the edge of a former tangerine tangerine: see orange. tangerine Small, thin-skinned variety of the mandarin orange species (Citrus reticulata deliciosa) of the rue family (citrus family). plantation, the exposed cliffside site is the antithesis of the cramped slivers of leftover urban space that are Bow-Wow's more usual milieu, but their response to context still is as provocatively inventive. Part pier, viewing platform, studio and greenhouse, the house is simultaneously part of the landscape while also acting as a vantage point from which to savour it. Anchored to the narrow terraces, a trio of simple timber and glass volumes tilts and slides down the hillside. The upper level contains a garage wrapped in a greenhouse-like skin of cheap, ribbed, translucent polycarbonate A category of plastic materials used to make a myriad of products, including CDs and CD-ROMs. sheeting. From here the only way is down, first to the main living volume that thrusts out from the hillside like a pier, and then to a large studio that runs parallel with the lowest terrace. Enclosed by hefty stone retaining walls, the terraces are transformed into strips of garden, with horticultural tools neatly stashed in a storage area underneath the studio. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Using space resourcefully is a recurring theme of the project. The kitchen is tucked into the rear of the living space (under the garage) and sleeping platforms are ingeniously compacted into broad landings on the stair linking the living space and studio. The flat roofs of both volumes are also connected to form an artificial topography of decks and terraces enclosed by precariously minimal balustrading. Interior space flows seamlessly into exterior space, unified by timber decking which plays up the dwelling's functional and vaguely nautical spirit. Light washes voluptuously through full-height glazing and everywhere you look there are Master of the Universe views over Suruga Bay Su·ru·ga Bay An inlet of the Pacific Ocean on the southeast coast of Honshu, Japan, southwest of Tokyo. . Given Bow-Wow's track record of getting down and dirty in the city, you slightly wonder if all this sudden rustic freedom might have a paralysing effect on their creativity--after all, constraints provide something to kick against. However, prior to this project they had designed a couple of rural holiday homes, so had some experience of setting small buildings in big landscapes. And here, paradoxically, there are also challenging physical conditions in the steepness of the site and the narrowness of the terraces, that prompt the architects to draw on and refine the experience of working in Tokyo. Bow-Wow's latest country house still has an urban edge. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] |
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