ALPHAVILLE: www.a-ville.net
POLYHEDRAL, DYNAMIC, PLYWOOD, FUSION
The so-called Machiya are wooden houses on a row typical of Kyoto, the historical capital of Japan. In most cases they served both as the home and workplaces for their owners. However they were units for a common citizen, whereby the business was operated in the main front along the road, while the private part, was located at the back, sometimes facing a small inners garden.
The project of Alphaville goes beyond the drawbacks of these typical Japanese dwellings, which, most of the times, were lacking in light. By creating polyhedral partitions the architects allow light to come inside and, by illuminating all the rooms, encourage three-dimensional communications and improve movements. Moreover, the characteristic of these multifunctional walls, whose different slopes divert shafts of light in different directions, is that they also connect spaces vertically along three floors, giving dynamism of living and heterogeneity in the functions. Melt into floors and ceilings, the plywood-finished walls offer pleasant experiences of touching and beautiful visual perspectives. While overcoming the Le Corbusier concept, which says that a house is a ai???machine habiterai??? this new Machiya becomes even a playground with its multiple equipments. Thus abandoning all the constraints of a typical Townhouse, the occupants have the freedom to enjoy their home as they deeply wish.
CREDITS
Architect: ALPHAVILLE Kentaro Takeguchi + Asako Yamamoto
Location: Kyoto, Japan
Client: Individual
Design team: Tomohisa Koike (Associate Architect), Kazuo Takeguchi (Structural Engineer)
General contractor: Craftsman Ship Kawana
Site area: 78.68 m2
Building area: 44.00 m2
Parking capacity: 1 parking space
Structure system: steel structure
Period of construction: 09/2009 03/2010
Photographers: Kei Sugino, Kentaro Takeguchi
