Bronze Architecture, Building and Structure Design · 2024
Fuwaku Residential
- A' Design Award 2024 Bronze Winner in Architecture, Building and Structure Design
- Awarded April 15, 2024
- CLIENT: Mochizuki Corporation
- Estimated Number of Design Views: 15,342
- Verification code 6C30F68EB3 · Verify this award
About Fuwaku Residential
The building is a modern interpretation of traditional techniques and craftsmanship. The deep eaves of the sloping roof and the linear impression of the wooden latticework, combined with the painted walls, create a peaceful exterior atmosphere. The interior features a six-layered coffered ceiling composed of horizontal and vertical lines, and the beauty of the traditional painted walls and unique structural beauty expresses a Japanese sense of aesthetics and outstanding design.
Press Kit
- Unique Properties
- The new building is a new living space that creates an appropriate distance between the new house and the main house, which are separate living styles, through deep eaves, in harmony with the main house, garden, and access road, designated as a Tangible Cultural Property by the national government.
The building is a modern interpretation of traditional technology and techniques, from the evolution of tradition to the pursuit of attractive structural beauty and beauty of use. - Dimensions & Packaging
- Main applications private residence
Site area 0.178672ha
Building area 0.008329ha
Total floor area 0.006552ha
Maximum height 18.9499ft
Eaves Height 11.3975ft - Tags
- Mochizuki Corporation, Mochizuki Architects, Architectural Design Office, Shrine carpenter, artisan,traditional techniques, architect, Architect Builder
- Production Technology
- The architecture is a modern interpretation of traditional palace carpentry techniques. The linearity and rhythm of the deep eaves and the wooden lattice covering the exterior walls, combined with the painted walls, provide a sense of calm and security. Inside, the six layers of latticework form a three-dimensional structure that, in combination with the painted walls, expresses the Japanese aesthetic of beauty of use and the charm of the structural beauty of woodwork.
- Design Challenge
- Tradition evolves and becomes tradition through innovation.
The fusion of traditional craftsmanship, which has been passed down for hundreds of years, with new modern craftsmanship and design is a difficult path to a new architectural tradition, but this building will be an architectural link in the succession of technology. - Project Duration
- The project started in April 2020 in Toyokawa City, Aichi, Japan and finished in August 2021
Location 63-1 63-3 Ohori, Shinozukacho, Toyokawa City, Aichi, - Operation Flow
- Tradition evolves through innovations and is reborn as a new tradition.
Centuries-old traditional skills and craftsmanship combined with new modern practices and designs, will be bridging to a new traditional residential architecture, that carries on succession of skills. - Research
- Only natural local lumber and materials, not processed by manufactures, are used for construction. The building is designed for residents to have a soothing, peaceful mind and comfortable environment with various specifications of traditional skills and craftsmanship, that you can enjoy with five senses. This project contributes to revitalize community and industries using local products.
- Inspiration
- This construction, an evolution of tradition, that changes the stereotype of an anachronistic image of residence, and results in conversion of traditional structural skills and craftsmanship including traditional method. While enjoying the aging process of exterior and interior materials as time goes by, main residence, garden and roads in the surroundings creates a harmony in landscape and adds charms of architecture.
- Image Credits
- Photographer, Yasuo Hagiwara
Colors of Fuwaku Residential
Grand Interview about Fuwaku Residential
In order to change the anachronistic image of traditional technology handed down from the past as an evolutionary form of tradition, we create architecture that gives people spiritual comfort by allowing them to feel the harmony of materials and wood with all five senses through “the beauty of attractive structure” and “the beauty of use” based on traditional techniques and skills.
We wanted to change the anachronistic image of traditional techniques that have been handed down from generation to generation. We designed this product to convey the delicacy of traditional techniques to a wider audience in the modern age, with the hope that it will lead to the inheritance of traditional techniques that have been in decline for centuries.
By expressing traditional techniques that had been seen as horizontal surfaces in three-dimensional form, a visual element from an angle was added, giving the viewer a three-dimensional thinking and creating a myriad of possibilities.
The original mixture of natural materials that have remained unchanged for decades, based on the traditional techniques and knowledge of plastering with sand, sandy soil, bamboo grass, and straw, enables countless architectural expressions with a few different materials.
The building is small in scale, taking into consideration the limited space that does not interfere with the large garden.Without compromising the style of the main buildingThe new house and the main house are designed in the evolution of tradition, while creating an appropriate distance between the two households, who will spend their new lives on the same site, and yet allowing the buildings to follow each other's lives and create a spatial relationship that connects their lives and bonds.
The energy consumption of transporting lumber is also reduced, emitting only about 1% of CO2 compared to the amount of carbon stored in the lumber, and the construction of the building has the potential to contribute to the revitalization of the local forestry industry through local production for local consumption and to local traditions, culture, and industry.
This building, where the harmony of materials and wood can be felt with all five senses, was designed to be a detached house that provides spiritual comfort and accompanies the time spent in the main house, and like the main house, responds to its environmental impact and responsibility for long-term maintenance.
The situation surrounding the local mountains remains challenging, as traditional crafts are no longer professionalized due to the decline of traditional techniques and the difficulty of maintaining them.This architecture contributes to the succession of skills and the revitalization of local industry by evolving traditional techniques and design, and by being publicly recognized both nationally and internationally with architectural and design awards.
We convey the evolution of tradition, from the inheritance of skills to a new form using unique traditional techniques. - Deep eaves made with a HANEBARI, one of the skills of the miya carpenter. - The “hipped eaves” are constructed without using any metal hardware for the shaft assembly.-Combination of six-story coffered ceiling and vertical members- Plastering: A unique plastering method is used to plaster the walls.
In recent years, the use of standardized, mass-produced construction methods and construction methods that rely on new building materials and laminated wood have increased, and traditional techniques have been declining. The building has become a place where people can learn about the traditional techniques, and it has also become a building that is connected to tradition, culture, industry, and the environment by continuing to educate people about the durability, strength, and delicacy of wood, as well as local production for local consumption.