mount fuji architects studio: tree house

‘tree house’ by mount fuji architects all photos by ken’ichi suzuki courtesy mount fuji architects

‘tree house’ by mount fuji architects is located in a typical residential area of northern part of tokyo. designed for a young couple the residence is situated close to neighbours houses. the problem with this was a shortage of natural light and privacy, to resolve this the architects chose a ‘centripetal tendency’ by limiting the building horizontally. they selected the polar-coordinate-system as the geometry of the architecture instead of the cartesian-coordinate-system. the rule is very simple. each level frame was rotated  and reproduced by 11.25 degrees and every frame is 55mm higher than next one. as a result, the strong structure which looks like big tree has been realized.

the main space is divided into 4 different characterized spaces by this big tree-like column. all spaces have a different composition in regards to height, width and light amount projected. the high and well lit space is for dining and the low and dim space is for sleeping. in the house people will find their favourite spot,  not by order of named rooms but rather with functions.

section view courtesy mount fuji architects

section view courtesy mount fuji architects

clockwise from top left: south, west, east, north elevations courtesy mount fuji architects

first floor plan courtesy mount fuji architects

second floor plan courtesy mount fuji architects

roof floor courtesy mount fuji architects

geometry diagram: polar coordinate system courtesy mount fuji architects

axometric structure courtesy mount fuji architects

site plan courtesy mount fuji architects

project info:

title: tree house function: private residence location: tokyo, japan, 2009 site area: 162.69 m2 building area: 78.76 m2 total floor area: 80.45 m2 number of stories: 2 story structural system: wood