In 2011 Japan was hit by a strong earthquake (the most powerful ever registered in the country) and the Government immediately started rebuilding plans. These rebuilding strategies are submitted to strict rules, on order to optimize time and saving money…and leave very little freedom to architects, too little for those that see high potential post-emergency rebuilding. The KYSIN group is set up exactly in this occasion. The KYSIN group, led by Toyo Ito, gathers some of the most important contemporary Japanese architects. Their concept is easy: considering designer and customer au-pair, in order to create projects that meet all human needs. First of all, avoiding loneliness. This is why they created Home-for-All, communitarian structures set in the temporary camps, within temporary accommodations. The Home-for-All buildings don’t need to be so big: they are just cornerstones in which people can meet to eat, to talk, to discuss…and to stay together at night, when the suffered trauma prevent them from sleeping.

Now, 7 Home-for-All were built in 6 of the stricken towns. Released from the standards that control the construction of temporary accommodations (for example dimension, shape, position, …) the “Home-for-All strategy” adapts itself to different places and traditions. In fact, the first step is to ask people what they need and which is their idea of reconstruction. This is the reason why each Home-for-All is different from the other, representing every time a different “genius loci“. Every Home for All also reinterpretate some elements of the Japanese traditional houses: so they aren’t only meeting points, but also a bond to their before-emergency lifes.

Kazuyo Sejima finds the perfect solution thanks to a linear project: trapezoidal plan, three luminous floors connected by a (almost) central stair.

 Street views by ©arcspace.com

The structure also helps the space-saving. The perimetral structure is realized with subtle steel panels (only 10cm thick) finished with anti-glare paint and containing a 3cm thick insulation layer. The internal partitions, realized with the same system, are welded to the perimeter. Everything is white.

The same approach is used in the School of Management and Design (SANAA). This project is part of the renovation plan for Zollverein, an ex coal mine in Essen (read more about the Zollverein project in: PRE-EXISTING | Building within history).

Designed like a shed and placed so as to preserve the existing trees, the  design creates a direct connection between man and nature. Even in their rooms, the inhabitants can enjoy the feeling of being immersed in the natural environment, thanks to the use of material and to framed views. At the ground level, the living room and the other common areas are surrounded by an engawa space, which is an intermediate space between the outside and the inside, as reference to Japanese traditional architecture.

The outer surface is wrapped up by sliding screens containing slits of glass. This surface lets in natural light and can be easily opened and closed; moreover, the reflection of trees on the glass merges the building with the surrounding landscape. On the inside of the sliding screen create the engawa space (intermediate space, air layer) between them.

The engawa space helps the inhabitants to live according to nature not just as concept (a buffer zone that keeps the inside calm and makes you feel part of the landscape) but also factually, protecting the house from the weather outside. During the summer, the sliding screens are kept open and nature invades the whole ground floor.  Even when it’s moderately cold, in autumn, they are left open and the interior space (wrapped by the inside screen) is still comfortable. However, when it gets really cold, they can be closed to keep the house warm. No matter how the sliding panels are used, light comes in and the trees are there, just behind the glass.

The Plan article in Italian

The open gallery space features a 25cm-thick white, concrete, curvy shell with with two elliptical openings connecting the visitor with the outside world, through beatuful views of the sky and landscape.

Its fluid shape and neutral color are an extension of the site and seamlessly bridge the relastionship with the ground.

The open-air museum exposes the visitor to the elements of nature.

A white concrete promenade twists and turns into the woods and out, framing beautiful views of the countryside, Tashima’s bay and the pavilion itself.