S House in Chiba

Kimi no Mori, Chiba, Japan, 2011—2015

Trapped

At the end of a town behind Tokyo’s suburbs, a small road leads us between detached houses —which could all have starred in the Truman Show— towards an unexpected opening: instead of more of the same staged happiness, we are driving towards a green reservoir.

Escape

As if to emphasise this opening, a drop of just over two metres divides the site into a lower and a higher area. Here is the opportunity for escape…

Rather than blocking this opening and remaining trapped in the Truman Show, we propose to make use of this height differential and thereby continue the views.

A simple volume sits on the higher ground and projects out. A gap opens between house and ground. As we approach, we are drawn towards the greenery behind. To the left, the entrance is the only part of the building that extends down to the street level. Behind the entrance door is a stairwell, enclosed by a white wall with several windows, some extending all the way to the sky through the adjacent inner courtyard. Placed in the centre, the stairwell becomes the pivot of the house, a white gallery showing, in many frames, the life of the house. We reach the dining and living area only to be drawn further towards the greenery waiting in the south…