For The Bearded Modernist, A Barn Stacked Atop A Glass House
Tato Architects created the design to defer to its environs and shield the occupants from neighbors.
I would love someday to face the dilemma that clearly confronted the owner of this extraordinary house in southern Japan: Let’s see here. I can’t decide between a barn and a glass house so, screw it, let’s do both! Ah, rich-people problems.
The 1,000-square-foot house is the handiwork of You Shimada of Kobe-based Tato Architects, and the real story of why it looks the way is does is this: Shimada wanted to design a house that wouldn’t overpower the spectacular surroundings, in a residential area halfway up Mount Rokko, in Hyogo Prefecture. At the same time, he didn’t want to leave his client totally exposed to nosy neighbors.
His solution: Wrap the first story in floor-to-ceiling glass “so that the fine view could be commanded to [its] full extent.” Then for all the ugly, messy facets of daily life--sleeping, showering, and a whole bunch of other things I’d rather not mention--Shimada designed an oversized metal barn and plunked it down on top of the glass house. It’s the pastoral and modernist fantasies rolled into one.
[Images courtesy of Tato Architects; h/t Dezeen]
