The Pitched Roof Casa by Takaharu Tezuka and Yui Tezuka

The Pitched Roof Casa by Takaharu Tezuka and Yui Tezuka is a highly esteemed winner of the very prestigious 2021 A' Design Award d'Argent in Disseny d'Arquitectura, Edificació i Estructures Competition Category.

ArgentArquitectura· 2021

The Pitched Roof Casa

by Takaharu Tezuka and Yui Tezuka

Client: Tezuka Architects

A' Design Award d'Argent Winner in Arquitectura Category

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The Design

About The Pitched Roof Casa

La Teulada Inclinada és una casa d'una sola planta a Karuizawa, Japó, coberta per una teulada inclinada molt senzilla. Només el quaranta per cent de l'espai sota la teulada està tancat, de manera que el límit entre l'interior i l'exterior es manté suau. La teulada en voladís s'estén més de sis metres amb una estructura de només 200 mil·límetres de gruix. Una superfície plegada en forma d'L funciona com un element monocasc i redueix els suports necessaris. Les portes corredisses permeten als habitants canviar el caràcter de l'espai vital. La casa reinterpreta els ampls ràfecs de l'arquitectura tradicional japonesa.

The Recognition

About the A' Design Award d'Argent

The Pitched Roof Casa és un guanyador del guardó A' Design Award d'Argent, un reconeixement extraordinàriament prestigiós concedit a dissenys d'alta gamma, esplèndids i impressionants. Els guanyadors d'Argent són obres tremendament brillants i summament creatives que il·lustren la perícia, el talent i la perspicàcia excepcionals dels seus dissenyadors. Es preveu que The Pitched Roof Casa sigui una obra meravellosa i de gran lluïment, remarcablement professional i profundament innovadora. Aquest disseny guanyador del guardó A' Design Award d'Argent és un invent molt notable i admirat que beneficia i fa avançar els límits de l'art, la ciència, el disseny i la tecnologia. The Pitched Roof Casa és una creació molt envejada que evoca desitjos, introdueix sentiments positius i desperta sorpresa i admiració.

Behind the Design

Press Kit

Credits, team members and technical details provided by the designer.

Unique Properties: This is a house located in Karuizawa, Japan with an extremely simple pitched roof. Traditional Japanese houses do not create enclosed environments but instead, form spaces that enable easy transition from the inside to the outside. By forming a blurred boundary, only forty percent of the space under the roof is enclosed within the interior. While the inside is being used primarily by the inhabitants as living spaces, it is the outside that defines it.
Dimensions & Packaging: Floor: Single floor
Ceiling Height: 2,100 mm
Roof Height: 3.446 mm
Site Area: 1,059.18 m2
Floor Area: 208.56 m2
Tags: House, Pitched Roof, Cantilevered, Japanese, Deep eaves, Boundary, Wood structure,
Production Technology: The cantilevered roof of over 6 meters, pushes the limit of the 200mm thick roof structure. By adopting a folded shape as the main structural element, it minimizes the support needed as compared to having a flat roof, which would require three times more of the support utilized. Like the Japanese papercraft, Origami, the L-shaped surface acts as a monocoque element – not resisting stiff but drooping about 5 centimeters under snow pressure like tree branches in the forest.
Design Challenge: In Traditional Japanese Houses, the space under the eaves is often associated with columns. However, these columns serve purely as structural elements to support the cantilevered edges and are not crucial in enclosing the space. Had technology been much more advanced, we would have been able to design without columns years ago. We are now able to achieve the real intricate quality of open spaces in Japanese Architecture - a feat that was not possible for carpenters 400 years ago.
Research: The pitched roof house is trying to reach a certain level of mutability by re-interpreting the traditional elements into modern context. In aiming to heighten qualities of architectural mutability, the work is tied into a long tradition of Japanese vernacular architecture known for its sliding doors, screens, and other boundary-modulating elements, such as deep eaves. These elements not only create the spatial fluidity, but also open the architecture to life-giving elements of sunlight, wind, and humidity, modestly scaled the ubiquitous digital lifestyle with a return of nature.
Inspiration: Deep eaves, as one of the most important Japanese traditional architecture elements in local monsoon climate, are almost extinct in modern houses. It is essential to comprehend the meaning of these traditional elements in the modern setting. With the latest technology, the house seek to reinterpret the deep eave in the context of a humid climate, retain and create more opportunities for these distinctive Japanese qualities to sprout forth in modern architecture.
Project Duration: The project started in July 2007 and finished in May 2009 in Karuizawa, Japan
Operation Flow: The house is designed for a well-known Japanese pop songwriter who wanted to create a place where he could disconnect from the pressures of daily life. The space enclosed enables the inhabitants to perform their basic living tasks while open space under the deep eaves allows them to connect to nature and the surroundings. The sliding doors which divide the inside from the outside can be used to realize the shift in ambiance within the living space.
Team Members: Constructor: Niitsugumi Co., Ltd.
Structure: OHNO-JAPAN
Lighting: BONBOLI Lighting Architect & Associates
Landscape: GA Yamazaki
Image Credits: Image #1: Photographer Katsuhisa Kida, FOTOTECA, 2009.
Image #2: Photographer Katsuhisa Kida, FOTOTECA, 2009.
Image #3: Photographer Katsuhisa Kida, FOTOTECA, 2009.
Image #4: Photographer Katsuhisa Kida, FOTOTECA, 2009.
Image #5: Photographer Katsuhisa Kida, FOTOTECA, 2009.