Photo: Ryota Atarashi, courtesy of Mount Fuji Architects Studio

© Mount Fuji Architects Studio . Published on January 08, 2007.

This is a house to be built in Tokyo, for a movie producer couple.

Photo: Ryota Atarashi, courtesy of Mount Fuji Architects Studio

© Mount Fuji Architects Studio . Published on January 08, 2007.

This architecture is consisted by combining L-shaped blocks of reinforced concrete and sequential frames of box-shaped engineer-wood. We put bedrooms, film archive and galley in solid concrete part for security, and living room in engineer-wood part for openness. As material that consist an open space that is 6m in height, 5.5m in width, 14m in depth, we choose thin engineer-wood (38mmx287mm).

Photo: Ryota Atarashi, courtesy of Mount Fuji Architects Studio

© Mount Fuji Architects Studio . Published on January 08, 2007.

Main theme for this architecture is to bring out a sense of mass and material, which were denied by modern architecture which pursued “white, flat wall” as a style. We intentionally left the wood grain of mold on the surface of concrete, and choose textured stones and irons.

Photo: Ryota Atarashi, courtesy of Mount Fuji Architects Studio

© Mount Fuji Architects Studio . Published on January 08, 2007.

It goes without saying that a house is a relaxing place. A house like a white-cube, surrounded by flat, white walls everywhere, gives a person very abstract image. But that image could only be sensed when we use intellective part of our brain. The problem is that we’re not all-intellective-creature. For the people like this client, who do enough intellectual labor on a daily basis, white-cube would only bring sense of fatigue. The role of architecture, especially the ones for living, is to soothe the sensory side of people, not to stimulate the intellectual side. That’s my take.

Photo: Ryota Atarashi, courtesy of Mount Fuji Architects Studio

© Mount Fuji Architects Studio . Published on January 08, 2007.

Sure, intellectual living would have got some meaning as a fashion at the time when modern architecture was born. However, now that it became a part of everyday life, its identity has been lost. We have to examine whether our approach is rational or not every time we build architecture.

Photo: Ryota Atarashi, courtesy of Mount Fuji Architects Studio

© Mount Fuji Architects Studio . Published on January 08, 2007.

(words from conference “Extreme East / CONTINUITY VS MUTATION” in Romania 2006)

Photo: Ryota Atarashi, courtesy of Mount Fuji Architects Studio

© Mount Fuji Architects Studio . Published on January 08, 2007.

Photo: Ryota Atarashi, courtesy of Mount Fuji Architects Studio

© Mount Fuji Architects Studio . Published on January 08, 2007.

Photo: Ryota Atarashi, courtesy of Mount Fuji Architects Studio

© Mount Fuji Architects Studio . Published on January 08, 2007.

Photo: Ryota Atarashi, courtesy of Mount Fuji Architects Studio

© Mount Fuji Architects Studio . Published on January 08, 2007.

Photo: Ryota Atarashi, courtesy of Mount Fuji Architects Studio

© Mount Fuji Architects Studio . Published on January 08, 2007.

Photo: Ryota Atarashi, courtesy of Mount Fuji Architects Studio

© Mount Fuji Architects Studio . Published on January 08, 2007.

Photo: Ryota Atarashi, courtesy of Mount Fuji Architects Studio

© Mount Fuji Architects Studio . Published on January 08, 2007.

Photo: Ryota Atarashi, courtesy of Mount Fuji Architects Studio

© Mount Fuji Architects Studio . Published on January 08, 2007.

Photo: Ryota Atarashi, courtesy of Mount Fuji Architects Studio

© Mount Fuji Architects Studio . Published on January 08, 2007.

Photo: Ryota Atarashi, courtesy of Mount Fuji Architects Studio

© Mount Fuji Architects Studio . Published on January 08, 2007.

Photo: Ryota Atarashi, courtesy of Mount Fuji Architects Studio

© Mount Fuji Architects Studio . Published on January 08, 2007.

Photo: Ryota Atarashi, courtesy of Mount Fuji Architects Studio

© Mount Fuji Architects Studio . Published on January 08, 2007.

Image courtesy of Mount Fuji Architects Studio

© Mount Fuji Architects Studio . Published on January 08, 2007.

Image courtesy of Mount Fuji Architects Studio

© Mount Fuji Architects Studio . Published on January 08, 2007.

Image courtesy of Mount Fuji Architects Studio

© Mount Fuji Architects Studio . Published on January 08, 2007.

Image courtesy of Mount Fuji Architects Studio

© Mount Fuji Architects Studio . Published on January 08, 2007.

Image courtesy of Mount Fuji Architects Studio

© Mount Fuji Architects Studio . Published on January 08, 2007.