The beautiful Japanese seaside town of Kamakura is known for its rich history and scenic location, offering views from the Shonan coastline to the iconic peak of Mount Fuji. A hilltop spot here can ensure some great, privileged vistas and an ideal perch from which to admire the Japanese culture and countryside; as the international owners of a new house, entitled T3, discovered, when they decided to build their Kamakura home.
The clients approached local architect Hitoshi Saruta of CUBO Design Architect for the commission. Saruta, who has a series of sensitively composed residential projects in the area under his belt, jumped at the opportunity to create something modern that would also accommodate his clients' keen interest ‘in the aesthetic of Japanese gardens, as well as Japanese culture and architecture'.
The house, which maintains a simple and fairly closed off street-facing front, highlighting privacy, slowly unfolds as the visitor walks in, and opens up entirely towards the rear of the plot and a carefully designed garden, complete with planting and rock arrangements. The scale is generous, as the house serves not only as a comfortable retreat for the owners, but also a guesthouse for visitors, as well as a place for entertaining, as the users split their time between Japan, France, and the United States. Striking a balance between domestic functionality, local charm and an impressive design approach was key.
Saruta duly obliged working with traditional Japanese building materials (such as granite, Japanese paper, black plaster, wood lattice, and louvers) where possible, to enhance tactility and anchor the project to its locale. He also adopted the use of the continuous eaves found in Japanese sukiya architecture (a residential typology linked to the traditional tea ceremony); only giving them a more contemporary twist by incorporating steel in the structure to add sharpness.
Inside, the residence spans four levels, including a basement floor with space for utilities and a garage, a ground level that contains bedrooms and a first floor, where the main living spaces are arranged, making the most of the plot's long views. The project's most impressive moment though is the scheme's accessible rooftop, with its large terrace and swimming pool, from which owners and guests can relax and take in the city and nature beyond, all within the serene setting of this remarkable, old/new architectural hybrid.
INFORMATION
-
Like a modernist iceberg, this Krakow house has a perfectly chiselled façadeA Krakow house by Polish architecture studio UCEES unites brutalist materialities with modernist form
-
Leo Costelloe turns the kitchen into a site of fantasy and uneaseFor Frieze week, Costelloe transforms everyday domesticity into something intimate, surreal and faintly haunted at The Shop at Sadie Coles
-
Can surrealism be erotic? Yes if women can reclaim their power, says a London exhibition‘Unveiled Desires: Fetish & The Erotic in Surrealism, 1924–Today’ at London’s Richard Saltoun gallery examines the role of desire in the avant-garde movement
-
The Architecture Edit: Wallpaper’s houses of the monthThis September, Wallpaper highlighted a striking mix of architecture – from iconic modernist homes newly up for sale to the dramatic transformation of a crumbling Scottish cottage. These are the projects that caught our eye
-
A Tokyo home’s mysterious, brutalist façade hides a secret urban retreatDesigned by Apollo Architects, Tokyo home Stealth House evokes the feeling of a secluded resort, packaged up neatly into a private residence
-
The Architecture Edit: Wallpaper’s favourite July housesFrom geometric Japanese cottages to restored modernist masterpieces, these are the best residential projects to have crossed the architecture desk this month
-
A Karuizawa house is a soothing, work-from-home retreat in JapanTakeshi Hirobe Architects play with scale and space, creating a tranquil residence in which to live and work
-
Behind a contemporary veil, this Kyoto house has tradition at its coreDesigned by Apollo Architects & Associates, a Kyoto house in Uji City is split into a series of courtyards, adding a sense of wellbeing to its residential environment
-
Ten contemporary homes that are pushing the boundaries of architectureA new book detailing 59 visually intriguing and technologically impressive contemporary houses shines a light on how architecture is evolving
-
The Kumagaya House in Saitama is a modest family home subdivided by a soaring interiorThis Kumagaya House is a domestic puzzle box taking the art of the Japanese house to another level as it intersects a minimal interior with exterior spaces, balconies and walkways
-
Remembering Alexandros Tombazis (1939-2024), and the Metabolist architecture of this 1970s eco-pioneerBack in September 2010 (W*138), we explored the legacy and history of Greek architect Alexandros Tombazis, who this month celebrates his 80th birthday.
