Villa/Gallery in Karuizawa, 2003

Relax and enjoy the view…

Have a great weekend!

^Who: Makoto Yamaguchi Design   ^What: Weekend residence (2 adults)   ^Where: Minami Karuizawa, Gunma   ^When: 2003 (completion)   ^How: One-story wood frame construction on reinforced concrete foundation.   ^{Site Area:} 0.34 acre (1360.54m²)   ^{Construction Area:} 737 square feet (68.46m²)   ^{Total Floor Area:} 737 square feet (68.468m²)   ^{Photographer:} Koichi Torimura   ^Website: www.ymgci.net   ^Tag(s): Makoto Yamaguchi

Photos © KOICHI TORIMURA
 

Villa/Gallery in Karuizawa

Karuizawa is a bijou town favoured by weekending Tokyoites. The Villa is perched on a steep slope oriented south in the forest, and looks out over a towering view of mountain ranges.

It is the villa for the couple of musicians. They wanted a flexible space that could work as a villa, gallery for contemporary art -mainly sculptures- and salon for music concert, place to entertain friends. To fulfill the functions, the ‘blank space’ should be required. The kitchen and bath -usual functions of a house- are built into the floor. The materials, requested interestingly no wood should be visible, glass, mirror and polished stainless steel reflect the light and view in the obstacle-less interior. They create an expanded impression of the space, one storey polygon with plenty of empty, white space.

The outside form a remarkable contrast to the interior. The finish of outside, the roof, wall, oblique foundation, is FRP (fiber reinforced plastics) painted in white. The seamless skin looks scaleless ‘point’ in the forest.

Makoto Yamaguchi / Makoto Yamaguchi Design