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Architects: Katsuhiro Miyamoto & Associates
- Area: 850 m²
- Year: 2007
Text description provided by the architects. Renovation of an old house, in an attempt to convert the traditional program to that of a modern house by replacing the decrepit sections. The deteriorated 300-years old wooden gate house, the “oku” (private section) and the northern volume under lean-to roof were dismantled, leaving the relatively well-kept 90-years-old main building with its traditional square grid plan (with four rooms). After that, around the main building, a private room, water utilities and the traffic line (ramp) are added. Excess in the original floor space is reduced to correspond to the size of the family.
The new section twines around the main building and functions as reinforcement against earthquakes. The reinforcement is provided through an airy, soft wrapping. The structure of the new section is a 2×4 inch wooden system.
External walls of the new section are covered with vernacular siding boards of burnt cedar to better blend with the townscape. The irregular gate-shaped volume on the façade is an independent private room with terrace housed above the parking space, representing the imagery of the original gate revived.
