TUNNEL
This is a small detached room designed for an owner who is an IT engineer to focus on his work and study.
The only thing he needs for his work is his laptop, and he wants the space just as an empty shelter.
The site is near Shakujii Park in Tokyo, where is full of naturel and with rich history. Ruins of the Jomon Era of Japan have been excavated out just 50m away from the site.
But the land between the site and such rich nature has been the vacant land for decades. Those lands are owned by the local municipality for the future expansion of the park, but no specific project plan has been released yet. Our project site is located in the middle of such vacant lands.
The theme of the project is derived from such the conditions. Our design aims to create a space where the owner can focus on his work, and reconnect himself to this rich environment at the same time.
We have created a space like a tunnel which runs three-dimensionally from West to North facade of the building.
‘A space like a tunnel’ means ‘a space constructed with plane and curved surface, and connected to the outside at both ends.’ By dealing with two openings and internal surfaces, we tried to connect this small building to the vast surrounding environment.
On the West end, a low-height sweep-out window is introduced. When the owner sits on the floor leaning against the curved wall on the East side, he gets the framed view towards the ruins and the forest beyond the vacant land.
On the North end, a fixed window is introduced at 4m height from the floor level. The curved surface with large curvature diffuses the gentle skylight from the North side into the inside of the tunnel.
As a result, the space has got the quality of intimacy by the envelopment of the surfaces, as well as of connectivity to the external environment.
The entire facade of the building is covered by black painted rough-hewn Japanese cedar timber which is usually used for furring strips.
This creates the texture which merges into the woods of the park.
小さな離れの計画である。
ITエンジニアである施主がラップトップ1台を持ち込んで仕事や趣味の作業に没頭できる、
がらんどうの空間が望まれた。
敷地は石神井公園にほど近く、縄文遺跡も出土するなど自然と歴史の豊かな地域だ。しかし敷地と周囲の自然環境の間には公園の将来用地としての空地が広がり、敷地はその中に孤立するように位置していた。
「デジタルなつながりに没入しつつも、周辺環境とのつながりを回復する」という設計のテーマは、
こうした諸条件から導き出された。
建物内を上下左右に蛇行し西から北へと抜ける、トンネルのような空間を作る。
「トンネルのような」という言葉には「その両端で外界に接続していて、平面と曲面で構成されている」という意味を込めている。両端の開口部と平面や曲面の扱いによって、この小さな建築を広大な周辺環境へとつなげることを試みた。
西側の端部は背の低い掃き出し窓とし、東側の小さな曲面にもたれて座ると少し遠くの縄文遺跡の森が視界に広がるようにした。
北側の端部は床から4mに位置するFIX窓とし、大きなアールの曲面が北側からの天空光をやわらかくトンネル内に拡散させるようにした。
結果として小さく包み込まれているような親密性と、遠くの外部環境へとつながっていくような接続性を併せ持った空間が生まれた。
トンネル表面は全て木質仕上げとし、大きな木塊をくりぬいたような表情とした。外装は杉荒材の胴縁材を目透かし貼りの上黒く塗装することで、石神井公園の樹木の肌に近づけている。