Design Concept
A woman living alone (the client) set out to build a home.
In this project, the very act of building becomes a statement about the way of life of one woman and her beloved dog. The house is compact, like a two-seat convertible you drive with your dog riding in the passenger seat. Even if you accept a bit of inconvenience, the drive is fun; likewise, we designed this home so that living itself feels more enjoyable.
We believed it made sense to pursue a plan that, while enjoying the convenience and delight that come with a small building, would also achieve a “felt spaciousness.” For that reason, we planned two gardens: a front garden and an inner courtyard. Here, “spaciousness” does not (simply) refer to physical size, but about sensing the surrounding rural landscape and its calm atmosphere. Indeed, if we may exaggerate a little, the openness of the earth and the sky. Sitting on the living-room sofa, these two gardens amplify the sense of space not only through what you see, the rural scenery spreading out before you on sunny days, or the sight of rain falling into the courtyard on rainy days, but also through sensations such as the feel of wind passing through and the sound of wind you can hear. Close your eyes and it can feel as if you are standing in the middle of a meadow, further expanding that sense of spaciousness.
Because this small house is close to the upper limit of what the body can intuitively “grasp,” it feels as though you can perceive the entire home with all five senses. A space that remains within the range of your understanding offers comfort and reassurance.
At the same time, there was a conflicting set of requests: the client wanted to open the scenic front garden, but also refused to compromise on security for a woman living alone. Our solution was to protect one bedroom with dependable security, while allowing the other spaces, such as the living room, to open toward the outside with a deliberate, nuanced ambiguity.
We zoned the bathroom and wash area as a separate volume, like a hanare (detached room) in traditional Japanese houses. You approach it by crossing the courtyard, an outdoor space with a comfortable, unregulated ambiguity. Because of this “ambiguous courtyard,” the dog can freely move to favorite places without a strict distinction between inside and outside, even when the owner is away. For dogs, the boundary between indoors and outdoors may be even less defined than it is for us.
We believe that for a woman to live independently and energetically, she needs a strong will. In this house, the walls that serve as that anchor are made of materials with a powerful texture. Through this home, we attempted a small proposal for a way of life: living on one’s own.
