‘portico’ by aida atelier, tokyo, japan photography by tatsuya noaki

japanese practice aida atelier has completed ‘portico’ a single-family residential situated in a suburb of tokyo, japan. the site is adjacent to six different properties which are built very close to the boundary lines leaving the positioning of the project with a condition that limits the amount of street frontage onto the river.

in order to create an architectural language that expresses an undulating sense of peripheral density, the team set rules for the exterior spaces. the first was to not confine the building from its surroundings and to create an environment with diverse adjacent scopes to allow for a transition room that circulates the air, is exposed to natural light and is spatially open. the second was to avoid the creation of a cul-de-sac and have an outdoor area free from stagnation. where the interior is not residual but an active part of the house that simultaneously exists as an integral section to the neighborhood. and thirdly, to conceive the outer shell as a volume and not a plane. re-conceiving this area left a zone on the upper floor with a conceptual ‘garden’, that materializes another invisible chamber within the property.

aida atelier + kuno lab: portico - 2 view from south-east

aida atelier + kuno lab: portico - 3 portico

aida atelier + kuno lab: portico - 4 entrance and patio

aida atelier + kuno lab: portico - 5 approach at night

aida atelier + kuno lab: portico - 6 portico, patio  and entrance at night

aida atelier + kuno lab: portico - 7 foyer

aida atelier + kuno lab: portico - 8 bedroom catching sunlight from the west

aida atelier + kuno lab: portico - 9 living and dining room with 3.3m high ceilings

aida atelier + kuno lab: portico - 10 living and dining room

aida atelier + kuno lab: portico - 11 bedroom with a blue painted wall that reflects the northern light

aida atelier + kuno lab: portico - 12

project info:

name: portico program: single family residence location: tokyo, japan design architect: tomoro aida + toshimitsu kuno + shinpei uehara (aida atelier, inc. + kuno lab. / nagoya city univ. graduate school of design and architecture) executive architect: tomoro aida + toshimitsu kuno + shinpei uehara + tomoki nagase structural engineer: takeyuki gaino (g.design) construction: home builder, inc. design: 09/2009 – 09/2010 (12 months) construction: 09/2010 – 03/2011 (6 months) structure: wooden frame site area: 179.07m2 floors: two levels floor area: 1st floor 56.39m2 / 2nd floor 78.66m2 / total 135.05m2 height: 7 116mm photography: tatsuya noaki

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