In the downtown area of Osaka City, many projects are underway to rebuild small old wooden houses into high-rise condominiums. Cities are becoming safer and more efficient, but more inorganic and homogeneous. The client couple and his mother lived in a wooden building where office, warehouse and residence coexist, where they have long run a cosmetics company. However, the patchwork building had many structural and insulation problems and was not a comfortable place to live in old age, so they decided to demolish it and build a new one.
We discussed the volume of each space and how to connect and separate them many times, and designed a one-story house that is compact and easy to use like a toolbox, with an elongated floor plan that fits an elongated site. It was covered with a simple triangular steel roof and several skylights were opened to allow light to enter between the buildings. By extending the roof and firewall towards the road, we improve the visibility of the office and make the entrance a semi-outdoor multipurpose space for unloading, meetings and machine maintenance. The elongated floor plan is divided into a public space on the east side and an office on the west side, each connected to the dining kitchen. The simple kitchen made of plywood is large enough to work with family and friends, and the dining area faces a small garden on the north side. The mother's room is located close to the sanitary, and she can live a little distance from the couple.
The new home for families, who have a good understanding of the lifestyle that suits them, has once again become a vitality building, like weeds sprout from asphalt crevices. In the middle of the city, a grounded dwelling may be more luxurious than a condominium.
