Y House

Creating a Facade

What kind of facade should a long site facing along the road have? The site is close to the sea, and the road in front has a large flow of people. The house would have many visitors due to the yoga studio attached. If we built the house like the ones in the area, it would only open up to the sea and have its back to the road; this did not feel right for this site. The Goken-Nagaya(five-unit house) is a terraced house with shops on the ground floor and housing above. It was commonly built during the Taisho period when Japan was drastically modernised. Even though five different units constitute it, the typology allows it to be one. The Goken-Nagaya taught us what kind of facade the house should have.

五軒長屋
道路に長く面した敷地のファサードのあり方を考えた。敷地は海に近く、前面の道路は人の往来が多い。ヨガスタジオを併設するため、訪れる人が多い住宅でもある。周囲の住宅のように、海に向けてのみひらき、道路に背くようにたつことはこの敷地にはふさわしくないように感じた。大正時代に多くたてられた五軒長屋は、１階が店舗、２階が住居の建物が５つ集まってつくられた都市型住居の一種である。５つの異なるものでありながら、全体はひとつである形式が、この住宅がどのような構えをもつべきかを示してくれた。