Hillside Housing
Shinkenchiku-Sha Foundation
Tokyo, JP
1994
The project is an exploration of computer aided manufacturing and cartography as they are related to design. The generation of a hillside site model through establishment of 3 dimensional coordinates initiated the design process. The building is similarly read as a series of sectional interpretations of the hillside site. Space for living and working is programmatically established. A structural frame of 2x12 wood construction is cut in the factory using computerization as each length is separately established. Frames are folded and assembled on the site. An unfolded plywood skin over the frames is similarly fastened on the site, the spaces structurally functioning as a hollow beam. A superskin of triangulated windows, landscape materials, shade screens, and photovoltaics forms the building’s skin, the final unfolded system to be constructed. The project utilizes land mass cooling, recycled water for irrigation, and isolation based footing for seismic conditions.
client
Shinkenshiku-Sha Foundation Tokyo
project team
Marc Angélil, Sarah Graham
specialists
Ove Arup & Partners, Structural Engineers, LA