House in Ota, designed by Ido, Kenji Architectural Studio, is a wooden, single-story house designed for a family of five, that has sculptural elements on the inside with high windows that allow natural light to flood the minimal interior spaces and a characteristic sawtooth shape on the exterior of the roof.

The House in Ota has recently been awarded a 2022 International Architecture Award by The Chicago Athenaeum: Museum of Architecture and Design and The European Centre for Architecture Art Design and Urban Studies.

The site is located at a border where the urban area, expanding with the progress of development, is engaged in a battle with the surrounding farmland of rice paddies.  The site is actually a former rice paddy that has now been developed for residential land. On the western side flows the Daimon River with rows of cherry trees along its banks.

The client requested a single-story building, which is arranged in a zigzag form enclosing a courtyard and following the shape of the site. The architects asked themselves how they could bring natural light inside, while still ensuring privacy. They also asked themselves what aesthetically pleasing ways exist that include light, while also bringing together the external shape and internal space of the building.

In consideration of privacy, the architects minimized the size of the window openings at eye level on the roadside and placed large windows facing the courtyard, which is completely closed off from the surroundings by a high wall. A space reflecting the characteristic sawtooth shape of the exterior of the roof expands underneath creating a series of sculpture-like spaces.  The residence as a whole, with its sawtooth roof suggesting an industrial building, resembles a white sculpture. 

The internal space expresses minimal details, and the broad ash floor, white walls, and ceiling are flooded with sunlight from the high windows.  As the height of the sun changes with the seasons, the sunlight from the high windows bounces off the ceiling in winter to light the room like a reflector. The changing area of the bathroom also has a high window, and sunlight floods into the bathroom through the glass screen. The space winds its way from the entrance, through the hallway, living room, and dining room, to the children’s rooms, looking at the courtyard to the side.  The bay windows protruding from the floor at an angle allow a view of the cherries blossoming along the Daimon River in spring.

Project: House in Ota Architects: Ido, Kenji Architectural Studio General Contractor: Kokudo Kensetsu Co., Ltd. Client: Ryota Katayama Photographers: Yohei Sasakura 

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