Katsuhiro Miyamoto and Associates

Katsuhiro Miyamoto and Associates - SHIP

Monday, 21 April 2008 02:40

Katsuhiro Miyamoto thrives on designing dwellings on challenging sites. As we saw in projects previously featured on Archinnovations, the architect carefully composes his projects from the constraint imposed by the surrounding density of the urban landscapes, developing his ideas despite the awkwardness of the site’s shapes and dimensions.

He proposes solutions that possess a powerful in their visual appeal while staying focused on the functional requirements of the house and the creation of user-centric living space.

This project is a residence built on a steep sloping site. The site is constrained on three sides by neighboring houses and a busy public road. The proximity of the surrounding developments raised serious safety concerns with regards to the excavation for the foundations.

The architect opted wisely on erecting the retaining wall from the lowest level of the natural ground and using the space enclosed by the reinforced concrete retaining wall to house the private areas. This portion of the house is protected from the busy street; and its design emphasizes sentiments of peace and serenity.

The upper part of the project hosts the public portion of the house, In contrast with the well-anchored more private lower part, this portion is designed to interact with its environment. It springs out towards the street with an impressive cantilever that* gives to the viewer the impression of looking at a ship floating in the sky. The vision is reinforced with the material used on the external envelope, composed of 12 mm thick steel sheathing reinforced with steel ribs. The steel has not been treated and covered with a stable layer of rust.

The architect wanted the house to be monolithic, in order to improve the support of the cantilever. The house’s curvilinear shape resulted from trying to get the most advantageous footprint to the monolithic project within an L-shaped site.

The dynamic gesturing of the external mass is inherited inside the house. While keeping all internal surfaces white, Miyamoto complements the curvilinear shell with a clever interplay of straight and curved partitions. He introduces natural light at different angles from the walls and roof to create different combinations of light and shade and bring the interior to life.

Ship is another successful house by Katsuhiro Miyamoto. Despite the constraints of a small L-shaped sloped site squeezed by its surroundings. He managed to produce a contemporary house, with a visually intriguing exterior, and a well lit enjoyable interior.

Project Description and Credits:

Project Name:　SHIP　
Location:　Nishinomiya, Hyogo, Japan

Architects: Katsuhiro Miyamoto & Associates, Principal-in-charge：Katsuhiro Miyamoto, Team Leader：Kazuhiro Takeuchi Collaborator: Masahiro Miyake / y+M design office

Structural engineering Masaichi Taguchi / TAPS

Contractors
General contractor：Yamamoto Komuten
Steel construction：Nakamitsu Kenko , Mukai Tekkojo

Areas: basement floor：42.95m2, first floor：16.23m2, second floor：52.36m2 Total Floor Area　111.54m2 Site Area　193.65m2

Materials Exterior：corten steel plate, exposed concrete. Interior：steel plate, cloth, vinyl sheet, concrete