Phase Dance בית עץ ביפן I פרוייקט חו''ל || פרויקטים

Project name: PHASE DANCE
Office name: Takeshi Hirobe Architects
Photography credit: Koichi Torimura
Project Outline
Location: Shizuoka Japan
Date of Completion: April, 2019
Principal Use: Weekend residence
Structure: Reinforced concrete + wood
Site Area: 1124.35 m2
Total Floor Area: 197.16 m2
Design Period: 09/2015 - 07/2018
Construction Period: 08/2018 - 04/2019
Structural Engineers : Taketo Sato
Structural Design: [concrete elements]Taketo Sato

האתר לפרויקט זה היה משופע ובתחילה היה מכוסה ביער צפוף. למרות שהאזור שמסביב פותח למטרת בניית בתים בשנות השבעים, על הנכס המסוים הזה מעולם לא נבנה מבנה. בתהליך הביקור באתר, נמשכו המתכננים לעץ תפוזים גדול והתחילו לחפש דרך להשאיר אותו עומד כדי שיוכל להתקיים יחד עם המבנה. בהתבסס על תקנות נסיגה ואילוצים אחרים, חישבו כי העץ ממוקם בסמוך למרכז המשוער של האזור בו ניתן היה לבנות. לכן התקדמו עם עיצוב שעוטף את העץ, נותן לו את המרחב שהוא זקוק לו תוך כדי יצירת קשר איתו.


PHASE DANCE, Photography credit: Koichi Torimura


PHASE DANCE, Photography credit: Koichi Torimura

We thought of the tree as a center point and centripetal force, but made a point of avoiding a symmetrical design with uniform angles. In addition, because the house is usually inhabited by only a few people, we felt that creating a succession of varied angles would result in a comfortable sense of scale in each space.


PHASE DANCE, Photography credit: Koichi Torimura


PHASE DANCE, Photography credit: Koichi Torimura

The sloped property has an elevation drop similar to that at the end of a promontory, which made the question of how to place the building on the land a structural question of ongoing concern. In order to avoid an overly large, deep foundation, we alloted about one-third of the building footprint to an overhang, thereby reducing the area of contact with the ground. The basic structure is comprised of reinforced concrete from the foundation through the floor of the second story, with wood above that. The upper level, which was conceived of mainly as a reading area, has the same footprint as the lower level, but by varying the shape of the triangular planes of the roof, we were able to maintain continuity.


PHASE DANCE, Photography credit: Koichi Torimura


PHASE DANCE, Photography credit: Koichi Torimura

The peak is around the center of the building, while the two narrow end sections slope down to the first story via a mezzanine and a void. This ultimately creates the impression of a single roof covering the whole building, even though it is divided into multiple sections. 

The name Phase Dance comes partly from our sense that the ongoing process of deciding how to respond to various phases or aspects of the project was a dance; partly from the building’s crescent-shaped form, which brings to mind the phases of the moon; and partly from the fact that we were inspired by the transparency and speed of guitarist Pat Metheny’s song of the same name.


PHASE DANCE, Photography credit: Koichi Torimura


PHASE DANCE, Photography credit: Koichi Torimura

PHASE DANCE, Photography credit: Koichi Torimura

PHASE DANCE, Photography credit: Koichi Torimura