HOUSE IN SONDA
This house is for a couple and their four children. The site is located in central Okinawa, in an area with a high concentration of commercial and residential buildings, but there are stil fields and parks around the site, and a large greenbelt left over from development extends to the east of the site. The topography around the site is undulating, and the site is surrounded by high land to the north, east, and south. The client, who loves architecture and particularly likes architect Tsutomu Abe's own house, requested that we want a kind of Tsutomu Abe's own house that would suit them and that we consider not only the building and layout but also the relationship with the surrounding environment. Al family members participated in the meetings and shared their opinions. As the meetings progressed, the idea was to create a garden at the center of the house that would alow for a variety of activities without having a room with a specific purpose at the center, and to arrange the family members' places of residence scattered throughout the house around the garden. The fact that the site is surrounded by high land on three sides is often a disadvantage in ordinary residential areas, but it has the advantage of protecting the building from storms such as typhoons, as the high land acts as a natural wal. The house is designed to open up to the large open green space on the east side of the building. The interior is a one-room space with almost no partitions from the entrance, and the various family members' places of residence are visible and hidden in succession. Each of these spaces opens into the garden at the center of the house, which in turn opens into a large, open green space. In order to avoid monotony, the ceiling height and floor level are varied according to the character of each living space, and windows of various sizes are provided to alow the eye to pass through in various directions. We hope that the open living space with a garden in the center wil grow into the owner's ideal residence in an enclosed residential area.
