Towards an architecture without a script

A strip of land with a frontage of 9.1m and a depth of 38.4m remained in a city that is becoming increasingly inorganic and high-rise destroying the former town layout of merchant houses lined up along the road. Taking into account the potential of this unique land shape, we will attempt a new form of stacked architecture that continues to build a dynamic relationship with the neighborhood and natural environment while opening wide to the outside.

This building was deliberately raised to 7 floors, which could have been accommodated at 5 floors if the requests were accumulated, and nearly half of the volume is semi-outdoor space, and in order to encourage vertical living, the building is based on a maisonette style. The 1st and 2nd floors are a store and office, the 3rd and 4th floors are rental housing for single people, the 5th and 6th floors are a large owner's residence with an annex, and the 7th floor is the owner's parents' residence with a garden. It is a building that looks like a city itself, with a combination of different uses and scales.

Here, we thought that we could create a lively state by allowing each to "exist in its own way" for these different uses, scales, situations, and environments.

Each space, element, and even the smallest detail exist as a natural body while respecting each other. It is not an abstracted architecture created by a single rule, and even less an architecture created from a strong whole. The architecture that stands here is supported by an order and strength that is full of opportunities, and spaces and objects are created while responding to the situation and environment of the spot. I thought that such "architecture without a script" could gain freedom and lead to the affluence of a new era.

First, we adopted a rigid frame structure with columns and beams that is not bound by earthquake-resistant elements such as walls and braces, so that each space that rises can freely establish its relationship with the outside world. By arranging pillars in a staggered manner on the long and narrow land, we create an open system that creates a connection with the surrounding area. Furthermore, square and round pillars of different lengths and diameters are raised at the same time, and huge beams are hung from them. The pillars lined up in two rows in the center are 600 square and 600 φ, and the pillars lined up on the outside are 300 square and 355 φ. The burden on the thick pillars in the center becomes lighter on higher floors, and the number of pillars gradually decreases. While relying on this uneven grove-like structural frame, the forms are decided according to the rationality of the situation of the distance to surrounding buildings, density, how to direct flow, how light enters, how wind passes through, how rain is received and let it flow into greenery, and the functional dimensions. In addition, by adopting a structure in which plates hang over beams and volumes rest on top of them, it is created to look like several light artificial grounds are hung in grove. By liberating the walls from the structure, not only can openings be created freely, but terraces can be built around the volume, creating spaces that integrate interior and exterior.

On the first floor, which descends gently to match the neighboring land, the volumes are arranged so that the shop gradually emerges, allowing people to naturally be led deeper into the space. From between the volumes, the presence of people living in neighboring houses and apartments flows comfortably along with the light and wind. The pillars that extend three stories high create a bright and open space, and as people weave their way between the pillars, they feel as if they are strolling through a grove of trees. Then, if people go around the gentle stairs leading to the back and go up to the third floor, they will reach the height above the roof of the building next door. It's a bright and far-reaching corridor of the town. From there, people return to their home, finding a place that weaves together the pillars and beams inside and outside.

In this way, a new architecture will be built with a rich external space. We hope that this architecture without a script created through the ad-hoc approach will create a diverse and discovery space within the space that integrates the interior and exterior, and will stimulate the activeness of the people who live here.