Niwa is a residential competition entry that we submitted in October of 2007. The competition asked us to contemplate the changing relationship between exterior and interior space in modern architecture, especially in relation to the importance placed upon it throughout Japanese architectural history. While the city is becoming more and more dense, there must still be exterior space which affects and improves our lives.
Our proposal uses the exterior space, or garden in this case, as an architectural element, which is essential not only to the aesthetic and makeup of the exterior wall, but the program which functions immediately behind it. Without the natural performance of the Niwa wall, the building could not properly function. Please see below the exact text which we submitted for this project.
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The Synthesis of Function and Performance
The existence of Japanese gardens and the dynamism of pure nature have an inverse relationship. The more influential nature is on people, the less necessity there is for a garden. In pre-industrialized Japan, people were more aware of nature and its actions because they could not control it. But as humans’ ability to control nature has developed, the garden has become more important, but also more stale and inert. A parallel problem which has emerged is the general lack of space in urban and suburban residential neighborhoods.
We’re using the solution to the lack of space problem as a catalyst for a re-emergence of dynamism in humans’ relationship with nature: using the house’s exterior walls to grow a garden, and in tern, using this garden to define the interior of the house. Our architectural and natural solution to the lack of space problem creates an inherent bris soleil, which produces shade in the summertime because the plants are catching the majority of direct sunlight, leaving only indirect light to filter through to the residence. In the winter, however, deciduous plants die and the sun moves lower in the sky, letting light into desired spaces. By bringing natural plants directly up to the boundary of the house, we’re promoting and nearly forcing a direct observation of nature by the user.
In Spring, plants let in the fragrant smell of flowering blooms. In Summer, the user is surrounded by green, so that they truly are living IN a garden. In Autumn, the beautiful colors which are so often unseen in the most dense of urban areas are surrounding the user at all times. And in Winter, due to the lifespan of the plants, much needed sunlight easily streams in and warms the house.
Based on the interior spaces and their functions, the plantings are varied by either deciduous or coniferous in nature. The deciduous plants die in the winter, allowing the more public spaces, such as the entry and the living room to be visible from the outside, and for sunlight to come in and warm them up. The more private spaces such as the bathrooms and part of the bedrooms are surrounded by carniferous plants, which are fuller, allowing less vision in, and remain this way throughout the year.
Our proposal creates a synthesis between solving a functional problem [the lack of space sufficient enough to plant gardens] and performance [ the emergence of the house as a performative, dynamic garden rather than a static piece of art.]
Filed under: Architecture, Competition
