〇Holes in the House

Life in a modern city depends on infrastructure such as electricity, gas, water and transportation, and industrial products. While industrialization has improved the convenience of our lives, the origin, processing process, and disposal destination of the resources of things and energy that support our lives have become black boxes. Architecture is also built on the premise of its infrastructure and industrial systems.
But in this age of climate crisis, infrastructure and services are starting to get exhausted and we must reconfigure our lives of mass consumption. As we learned from the Fukushima nuclear accident, an overly centralized system carries risks. We know that there is a limit to the ecological footprint and that we are exceeding our biocapacity. Discovering and utilizing local resources in the city will lead to sustainable modern life.
The sun can provide warmth, hot water, and even electricity.
Microorganisms in the soil can break down garbage and excrement. Soil can also suppress the heat island effect. A large amount of waste is generated in cities; dismantled, and discarded building materials from construction sites can be reused as resources. Therefore, we can tap into the city’s circulation of energy and materials for its buildings.
Our architectural practice begins with finding resources; we start with garbage rather than something new. We then consider ways to incorporate natural resources such as the sun, soil, air, and water into buildings at the lowest possible cost. This process reflects the reality of living in Tokyo today.

"Holes in the House" is our home and office; since 2017 we have been living in and renovating this building. We first opened "holes" in one span adjacent to the staircase of the stacked slab. This was to effectively provide a vertical connection to each narrow floor. Light is brought from the existing skylights and staircase windows through the "holes" to the entrance on the second floor, which had been dark. Next, we added insulation to the uninsulated ALC exterior walls and concrete foundation so that the first floor, which had been a warehouse, could be used as an office. In addition, the floor and wall finishes were made from recycled scrap Japanese cypress and Japanese cedar rimmed boards. If people regard everything as garbage, everything will become garbage. It is the "Mottainai Spirit" to use things as resources instead of throwing them away immediately. The concrete in the parking space on the north side of the site was scraped to return it to the soil and planted to create a cool spot for getting a cool breeze in the summer. The " holes" created by the demolition of the building will be the starting point for reconnecting the building to the ecosystem within the city.

〇Takaoka Guest House

The Takaoka Guesthouse is a 40-year-old wooden house to be converted into our grandmother's residence and guesthouse. 1 building was converted into 3 separate buildings (dining room, guest rooms, and grandmother's residence) to provide a gathering place for family and friends.
The existing building was partially demolished, repaired in stages, and reconstructed with materials available on the site so that the grandmother would not have to move.
In the first phase of construction, a bathroom and kitchen were added to the existing tatami room; in the second phase, the shed frame was relocated by crane and the rest of the building was dismantled; in the third phase, the dining room frame was newly built, the shed frame was placed on top of it, and the existing roof tiles were re-roofed. In the fourth phase, the guest rooms were improved, and in the fifth phase, the soil environment in the garden was improved and clay walls were painted on the exterior walls of the dining room.
Our goal was to preserve the landscape of the tiled roof, to connect the memories of the house, and to create a house that would grow intermittently.

〇Akeno Raised-Floor House

The house is for a young couple moving to the village of Akeno in Hokuto City, Yamanashi Prefecture. Fuji to the south of the site and the Southern Alps to the west. In the surrounding area, stone masonry development, terraced rice paddies, and waterways remain in places. Yamanashi Prefecture has long hours of sunshine per year, making it easy to use solar energy. The 2-meter eaves overhang prevents direct sunlight from entering the house in summer. Chairs and tables are set out on the deep veranda for dining while enjoying the view of Mount Fuji. When a typical concrete slab foundation is used, a large amount of soil residue is generated. In addition, fresh water and air cannot reach the soil under the concrete foundation, which has a negative impact on the vegetable garden on the south side. Concrete is difficult to recycle and can only be reused as crushed stone. Therefore, we decided to use an independent foundation made of recyclable steel: a cone-shaped independent foundation made of 12mm steel plates was buried in the ground to a depth of about 1m, and a wooden frame was placed on top of it. The floor is raised to a height of 1m, which provides a view of Mt. Fuji, keeping the floor assembly dry and away from the moisture of the soil and allowing easy inspection of the subfloor. The walls are constructed using the "straw bale house" method, in which straw blocks are piled on top to form Since straw decomposes in hot and humid conditions, the high floor format, overhanging eaves, and ventilation layer on the exterior walls protect the straw from rain and moisture. With guidance, the amateur piled up straw blocks measuring 900 x 450 x 350 mm, tied them with bamboo using a shuro rope to secure them, and applied clay walls (a mixture of clay and sand) with his bare hands. The compressed straw blocks have the same level of insulation performance as glass wool, and the clay walls, more than 50 mm thick, serve as a huge heat storage device, stabilizing the temperature in the room. The floors and ceilings are made of wood fiber, an insulating material made of compressed wood shavings, and the majority of the building is composed of biodegradable materials that can be returned to the soil.