A HOUSE UNDER A “BONBORI” ｜ SangoDesign

A HOUSE UNDER A “BONBORI”
This house is a small final house for a couple. The desire to close the house to the outside world as much as possible led us to consider creating a "core" in the closed space that would serve as a spiritual anchor for the residents.For this house, I thought it would be appropriate for the core to be something that warmly illuminates the place, like a "bonbori" (Japanese paper lantern). This "Bonbori" is the core of the house in many ways, including structural, facility, and environmental aspects.The "Bonbori" has become a symbol of this house and a "stronghold of life.

Bonbori as a gentle environmental device
This "Bonbori" helps to gently regulate the indoor environment by opening and closing the shoji according to the season. In winter, the warmed air inside the Bonbori is blown out from under the floor on the first floor. In summer, the shoji and top light open to release the hot air inside the house to the outside.

Bonbori as a strong main pillar
This "bonbori" serves as the structural centerpiece. By bracing four ordinary columns (120mm square), it can reasonably take the same load as a large-section Daikoku-bashira (main pillar). Each of the four columns is connected to a climbing beam, which extends throughout the entire building, providing a more stable structure.

Bonbori as a symbol of affluent life
The "Bonbori" is a symbol of the house that the family lives together in. It is like a cherry tree that creates a unique place (space) under one's feet during hanami (cherry blossom viewing). The bonbori will become the new family of this house.

People engage in a variety of activities around things that serve as "clues" (surroundings), where "places" are created. This "place" becomes "space" and leads to "architecture. For this house, we started with the idea of creating intimate "clues" that have a moderate scale.

Initial image

The upper shoji screens are opened and closed according to the season to help regulate the indoor environment. In winter, heated air inside the bonbori is blown out from under the first floor through four pipes. In summer, opening the shoji and top light releases hot indoor air to the outside.

cross-sectional drawing

As the main pillar, it is the structural center of the building. By combining four 120-square pillar members, which is a common distribution size, instead of using a special large cross sectional lumber, the building can reasonably take the same burden as large cross sectional pillar members. Each of the four columns is directly connected to a climbing beam, which spreads the force throughout the building and provides a more stable structure.

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Mirror pasted inside the bonbori ※

The flooring is made of "Morizumu no ki", a Japanese domestic wood that has been cut down at the age of months + dried by dying leaves (3~6 months) + naturally dried by stacking planks (1 year or more). ※

USE	HOUSE
LOCATION	Yokohama-city, Kanagawa, Japan
STRUCTURE	timber frame
SITE AREA	135.14㎡
BUILDING AREA	53.00㎡
TOTAL FLOOR AREA	85.87㎡
DESIGN PERIOD	2015.10-2016.11
CONSTRUCTION PERIOD	2016.11-2017.7
Structural Design	Ryo Kuwako / KUWAKO ARCHITECTS AND ENGINEERS
Facilities Design	Masako Takatsuki
Contractor	Ikeda Komuten
Photo	Satoshi Asakawa (※SangoDesign)