Project: Opening Next to the Park House
Architects: Qukan
Location: Japan
Area: 1,496 sf
Year: 2019
Photographs by: Ikuya Sasaki
Opening Next to the Park House by Qukan is a unique residential project located in Japan. The architects sought to create a house that fully embraces its proximity to a small park, while maintaining a certain level of privacy and distance from it. The house features an enclosed semi-outdoor space called the “outdoor living and indoor garden,” which serves as a continuation of the indoor space while securing visual distance between the indoor space and the park.
I feel that houses directly facing a small park in a residential area are built in such a way as to reject the park, perhaps because of privacy concerns. This may be due to the fact that the proximity of the park makes it difficult to maintain a sense of distance from the park. In this house, we sought to create a new expression of a house that benefits from the park while maintaining a good sense of distance and making the most of its advantages.
The adjacent park has only minimal playground equipment and is a pathway to a nearby supermarket. Due to the site setting, it was necessary to have lighting and a view from the east side where the park is located, but it was also necessary to respond while maintaining a certain distance from the park because of concerns about the line of sight from people using the park as a passageway.
Therefore, an enclosed semi-outdoor space called “outdoor living and indoor garden” was created as a continuation of the indoor space. Through this semi-outdoor space, we secured a visual distance between the indoor space and the park. At the boundary with the outside world, a large opening was created as if through the park, and an outer curtain of tent fabric was installed as a device to change the character of the semi-outdoor space. The “outdoor lounge” facing the second floor is like a veranda, but when the curtain is closed, it becomes one with the interior, while the “indoor garden” on the first floor becomes a closed space like a tsuboniwa.
At the time of completion, the residents were surprised at the semi-outdoor space and the use of curtains, but they are gradually learning how to use the space as they watch their children play in the pool in the “indoor garden” with the curtains closed and have dinner in the “outdoor lounge” with the curtains closed at night. It was a joy to discover new ways to use the space in everyday life. The elevation of the building, with its exterior curtains and large openings, is like a stage curtain in the park. The expression of the curtains fluttering in the wind became a new signature of the park.
-Qukan
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