Gold Architecture, Building and Structure Design · 2016
The House for Contemporary Art Residence
by Ryumei Fujiki & Yukiko Sato
- A' Design Award 2016 Gold Winner in Architecture, Building and Structure Design
- Awarded April 15, 2016
- CLIENT: F.a.d.s
- Estimated Number of Design Views: 33,756
- Verification code 5499292A50 · Verify this award
About The House for Contemporary Art Residence
This home was designed for an art appreciator and amateur artist who wanted a “house like an art museum”. Planned with careful consideration for air circulation as well as for the harsh, snowy climate of the Japan Sea coast, the structure is composed of white boxes of varying scale that frame spaces like pictures. One of the main concepts is 'Seamless Spatial Composition'. You can circulate through the spaces in this home looking at the owner’s collection of artwork just as if you were passing through galleries in a museum.
Ryumei Fujiki and Yukiko Sato's The House for Contemporary Art Residence emerges from a distinguished lineage of modernist residential architecture that privileges transparency, geometric purity, and the dissolution of boundaries between interior sanctuary and exterior landscape. The composition demonstrates exceptional command of volumetric arrangement, orchestrating intersecting white planes that frame generous glazed apertures while maintaining a sense of protective enclosure appropriate to domestic inhabitation. One observes the architects' sophisticated understanding of light as architectural material, here captured at the liminal moment of twilight when interior illumination transforms the dwelling into a luminous presence against the deepening evening sky. The horizontal ribbon window visible at right suggests careful consideration of prospect and privacy, offering controlled views while contributing to the horizontal emphasis that grounds the composition within its site. Technical accomplishment manifests in the precise junction of planar elements, the consistent material expression across varied orientations, and the seamless integration of structural and envelope systems. The palette of achromatic white volumes against blue hour atmosphere creates a chromatic dialogue that elevates the everyday domestic realm toward the contemplative register historically associated with sacred architecture. This work invites consideration of how contemporary residential design might serve as frame for daily life while simultaneously engaging broader questions of shelter, transparency, and the human desire to dwell in meaningful relationship with both natural and constructed environments. What qualities of light, space, and material contribute to our sense of home as place of both refuge and openness to the world?
Press Kit
- Unique Properties
- SEAMLESS SPATIAL COMPOSITION
You can circulate through the spaces in this home looking at the owner’s collection of artwork just as if you were passing through galleries in a museum.
RESPONSE TO THE ENVIRONMENT
The first was dealing with the snow. In regions with heavy snow, the shape of the roof is very important. Many homes are built on the assumption that someone will shovel the snow off the roof, but that’s a lot of heavy work, and dangerous. We decided on a flat roof with no parapet that would stay relatively snow-free because of wind action.
Our second thing was to create good airflow. - Dimensions & Packaging
- Site Area 246.48 sqm / Building Area 137.10 sqm / Total Floor Area 135.56 sqm
- Tags
- House like an Art Museum, Seamless Spatial Composition, Response to the Environment (Nature), Dealing with the Snow, Natural Ventilation
- Production Technology
- Reinforced Concrete 1 Story
- Design Challenge
- To encourage natural ventilation, we created a temperature differential by designing two gardens, one on the south side that would warm up easily, and one on the north side that would remain cool. This is a traditional design method used in Kyoto townhouses.
- Project Duration
- Fukui Prefecture, JAPAN
- Operation Flow
- You can circulate through the spaces in this home looking at the owner’s collection of artwork just as if you were passing through galleries in a museum.
- Research
- It goes without saying that our top priority was fulfilling the client’s wishes. We began by measuring the many works of art that the client had created and collected over the years. Next, we held a number of planning meetings to discuss where to display each work of art, among other issues. For instance, we determined the height of the living room ceiling based on the wall size that could accommodate a painting measuring over 1.5 x 1 meter. In addition to the art collection, the client also has a large number of old records, mostly jazz. It was important for us to figure out a way to display them.
- Inspiration
- We designed this home for an art appreciator and amateur artist who wanted a house like an art museum. Planned with careful consideration for air circulation as well as for the harsh, snowy climate of the Japan Sea coast, the structure is composed of white boxes of varying scale that frame spaces like pictures.
- Image Credits
- Hiroshi Ueda, F.A.D.S