An extraordinary commission to design for one of Japan’s most revered designers has resulted in an extraordinary house. In a country with an ancient tradition of exquisite refined landscapes and architecture, it is perhaps surprising that an Australian architect would be asked to add to that culture. The Wall House doesn’t disappoint. Rather than enclose or frame the landscape, the house becomes part of it, with large timber sliding doors opening to the shores of the Pacific Ocean.
The structure becomes a wall between street and garden, creating a place of tranquillity and contemplation. An elegant frame structure extends well beyond the house, supporting the sliding doors and slatted screens, and emphasizing the range of screening, filtering options. The gently warping twisted shingled roof, the ordered plan, the simple palette of timber and stone, the calm of water and the restrained, consistent detailing combine to produce a house of rare beauty and serenity.
Australia’s growing international reputation for unique residential architecture that relates to landscape is further enhanced by this simple, elegant house that beautifully demonstrates the richness of cultural fusion.
– Jury citation
Credits
- Project
- Wall House, Shizuoka, Japan
- Architect
- Peter Stutchbury Architecture
Sydney, NSW, Australia
- Architect
- Keiji Ashizawa Design
Tokyo, Japan
- Consultants
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Builder
Daido Kogyo Construction
Electrical, environmental, hydraulic and mechanical consultant Hiramoto Equipment
Landscape consultant GLAC Corporation
Lighting consultant Izumi Okayasu Lighting Design
Structural engineer A. S. Associates
- Site Details
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Location
Shizuoka,
Japan
- Project Details
-
Status
Built
Category Residential
Type New houses
Source
Awarded Project
Published online: 1 Jul 2011
Words:
National Architecture Awards Jury 2010
Images:
Michael Nicholson
Issue
Architecture Australia, November 2010