Architects: masafumiharigaiarchitecture
Area: 190 m²
Year: 2022
Photography: Masao Nishikawa
Architecture Design: Masafumi Harigai, Fumito Nomura
Structure Engineers: Konishi Yasutaka Structure Design
Lighting Designers: Okayasu Izumi Lighting Design
City: Saitama
Country: Japan
Abe House designed by masafumiharigaiarchitecture in Japan explores architecture through bodily sensations. Completed in 2022, this 190 m² family home features a courtyard layout and a spine-like central framework. The design balances physical comfort with structural rationality, creating a dynamic, interconnected living space.
Can architecture be considered from the perspective of bodily sensations as the determining factor? This project started by separating the structure that bears horizontal force from the building’s outline, without optimizing the preceding form. The result is a structure where a thin rectangular frame defining the living area wraps around a spine-like polygonal framework in the center. Both elements act independently while influencing each other.
When deciding the position and cross-section of the members, physical sensations guided decisions within rules ensuring mechanical rationality. The design evolves as the structure, typically a fixed point, oscillates. For example, widening the distance between pillars enhances comfort, and adjusting beam angles connects the space more fluidly.
This house for a family of six is built in a residential area, neither urban nor suburban. To create a protected space in a beautiful landscape with no neighborhood ties, a courtyard-type layout with interconnected small volumes was chosen. The family is a collection of individuals with strong, independent ties.
The space respects individual relationships while allowing for intimate and personal distances. Continuous columns and beams form a closed circular polygon, creating both the whole and the parts of the space. They subtly divide the living area, providing refuge or companionship.
Even in a connected space, scattered pillars create various appearances and disappearances, allowing each family member to experience different times and events simultaneously. This complexity in perception enables the acceptance of diverse occurrences.
Modern architectural rationality often leads to mechanical and static order. This project suggests that spatial forms influenced by bodily sensations bring about a human and dynamic order. The swaying fixed point unravels fixed ideas, connecting people to people, people to things, and people to events.
Project Gallery
Project Location
Address: Saitama, Japan
Location is for general reference and may represent a city or country, not necessarily a precise address.
