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Architects: Takayuki Kuzushima and Associates
- Area: 136 m²
- Year: 2022
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Manufacturers: LIXIL
Building a Hut between the Town and the House. An atelier for Ryosuke Ando, a pottery artist, is located in an urbanization control zone in Anjo City, Aichi Prefecture, Japan. The existing main house on the north side of the site has an atelier in one room at the south end, and this project is to extend the atelier function of the main house by building an extension on the remaining part of the south side of the site. The site has a narrow front road and built-up, but a long open space is also across the road. The client requested that a gas kiln, an electric kiln, a vacuum stirrer, and a pot mill be installed, as a sink, a shower booth, and a worktable.
Considering the work process and the layout of the rooms, including the main house, as well as the connection from the main house to the town, we designed a functional layout that incorporates a semi-exterior space by the roof. Specifically, the space structure consists of a long and narrow corridor with the main house atelier sliding sash as its central axis. The workrooms (newly built) are located close to the main building, and the room for the kiln, which becomes hot during use, is located in a separate space connected to the main building by an outer corridor. The pottery work (clay work, plaster work + glaze work, and firing work) is arranged in three spaces, which are continuously aligned with the main building.
This layout plan allows the line of sight to pass through the corridor from the main building atelier workrooms to the street's other side. The long scale was incorporated into a very small building. The exterior corridor in front of the kiln room was intended not only to serve as a line for carrying in work to the parking lot and as a temporary storage area for firing work but also as an open space for exhibitions and workshops open to the community.
The fittings separating the kiln room from the exterior corridor were planned as Kendon (a method in which a groove is dug at the top and bottom and a door is raised, dropped, and fitted into the groove). The fittings, which are removed when work begins, are placed in the concrete blocks that line the exterior corridor to form a partition that cuts off the view from the neighboring house and provides a backrest for a high-back chair. The open/closed nature of the architecture creates a landscape of the town as a manifestation of the pottery work of the potter.
Kendon fittings are painted in silver urethane to harmonize with the exterior folded panels and to preserve the grain of the wood. Steel hardware such as braces and splice plates were painted gold to prevent rust. These finishes and the unevenness of the exterior folded plates are motifs of Ando's pottery works, which were incorporated into the architectural elements.
At first glance, the folded-plate roof floating in the middle of a residential area looks like a carport or warehouse, which are common in this area. On the other hand, its proportions and height give the roof a certain symbolism that is rarely seen in general residential areas. We aimed for a roof that would both discreetly and powerfully support the client's activities as a potter in this area. The atelier is located under the corridor connecting the house and the town.
