平井政俊建築設計事務所 Masatoshi Hirai Architects Atelier

Flexibility and Redundancy

In the center part of the Kanto plain, there used to be many farmer’s houses surrounded with premises forest. It should be mentioned that those traditional houses were usually planned with four-quadrant as shown below : four square rooms and a large earth floor , and which is called 田-shaped plan in Japanese since the four rooms are placed as a Chinese character ‘田’ meaning a rice-field.

This traditional four-quadrant plan reflected in farmer’s life style before modernization, that is to say, living by industrial homework and extended family system. They used to work and live together with a large number of family members. Therefore, in their houses, multiple paths could be chosen because they could move through another room when next room was occupied. Plural rooms could be connected for a use, or uses of rooms could be exchanged easily since the size of the rooms was almost same. Inside their houses, moreover, farmers could keep horses and do light work for farming. Thus there had to be need for flexibility and redundancy in their houses in that era, flexibility for extended family system and redundancy for industrial homework. However, it seems that both of these intellect had already been programmed into the plan, a plan with migration space of four-quadrant and an earth floor dynamically connected to them.

A house for each in his own way

The site is in a residential area that used to be a rice-field village and was divided by a land readjustment project in 70’s. Through our research, it was found that almost of the traditional houses remained in this area was faced to the south with premises forest around them. This might be a logical consequence considering prevailing wind of this area and a need for solar heat gain in winter.

The client requested a house for a two-generations in that eight adults could live. Besides, a large living room and a tutoring space are requested: the client expects plenty of guests gathering and children in neighbor coming to learn English. From the process of planning architecture for such a modern family of a large number and many possible guests coming to the house, eventually, a plan like that four-quadrant emerged.

The new plan keeps four-quadrants as a basic frame, however, the functions of the rooms are rotated in a circle in this plan, which makes it slightly different from the original. Chanoma appears where Doma used to be, creating space like a large living room. Okuzashiki appears where Chanoma used to be, creating a guest room with a direct access from the entrance. Doma is a bit larger as an entrance and located in the center of the house, enabling it to link with multi-direction. All the space: study, bedroom, reception, living, is connected as surrounding the Doma. This linking between Doma and other bunching spaces inherite the intellects of flexibility and redundancy, which four-quadrant plan contains, to the present. As a result, a large family, guests and children in neighbor can exist at the same time with no confusion. Moreover, it provides spaces such that everyone can feel comfortable spending time in their own ways.

Accommodation to the climate and townscape in the region

The prevailing wind from south in summer is cooled down when it goes through the main garden placed in southern part of the site, and then it blows into the house becoming cool breeze. Shadow of the eaves should be set short to gain the solar heat in winter, so the house is faced straight to the south. The slant of a roof is directed to the southeast, to accommodate with other roofs and townscape. In this way, the relation between roof and plan is skewed, which creates various sections of the space and characterize each room.

In order to relate the inner and outer space, the plumbing is extended to the northeast, forming bathroom, connected to the living garden, and the Zashiki is extended to the southwest to make open space to main garden, loggia, and then toward the town. By extending personal activities such as bath and study to the outer side, modern four-quadrant plan obtains flexibility and redundancy that accept a diversity of simultaneous activities.