Like a timid child hiding behind parents, the Cross House at Koganei, Tokyo, peeks out from the bushes warily — that does not come as a surprise, as lead architect Yukio Asari planned for the home to sit down humbly in its own environment. “From a passerby’s standpoint, the home should reveal itself gradually and quietly,” says Asari. His customer, a novelist who wanted an isolated home, requested Asari to build a home that resembled the one in Victor Erice’s movie The Spirit of the Beehive, a location where the writer could feel a sense of connection to the natural world.
in a Glance
Who lives here: A novelist
Location: Tokyo
Size: 1,776 square feet
That is interesting: The site includes a bus stop Which Makes an appearance in Hayao Miyazaki’s movie The Secret World of Arrietty.
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From that standpoint, the home appears to split into its environment. Asari and his team conceived of a home that would diffuse easily into nature, together with the river along with the cherry trees in the background, just as if it was there from the very beginning.
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To reduce the sense of oppressiveness that the home may project for passersby, Asari appended two right-angled corners onto the trapezoid-shape site and produced a sloping, cross-shaped roof in addition to a cross-shaped floor program. Asari says,”The outcome is an architectural volume that morphs to a line, instead of introducing a’face,’ in the point where the arrangement is located closest to the landscaped walkway.”
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Exterior views are accessible from each corner.
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Natural lighting sources are carefully focused and concentrated, allowing the customer to circulate freely without needing excessive artificial lighting.
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As sun shifts from one place to another, the home evolves, changing its mood and character with the sun through the day.
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The Cross House has access to four inside courtyards for personal enjoyment. They connect the distance to its environment, and numerous openings enable broad access.
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As seen in this image and in the bath at the following, transparent glass windows and doors throughout the structure help extend the outside to the interior.
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The second-floor writer’s study indicates the client’s pared-down requirements because of his craft: a computer, a chair and a desk. Light from the honeycomb stained-glass window a replica of this one in The Spirit of the Beehive — casts an amber glow. The study is a space of calm and creativity, fulfilling the client’s need for quiet in the home.
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The sloping surfaces of this low-pitched, cross-shaped roofing come into contact with the facade of the home on all four sides, eliminating the need for extended vertical walls.
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A spartan bedroom provides the perfect place for Asari’s customer to rest. Although not visible in this picture, the bedroom has a balcony.
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The Cross House’s reticent daytime character appears to get confidence at nighttime. The downlights and honeycomb glass window at the study highlight the linking of the right-angled corners; the surrounding vegetation appears to retreat. The Cross House glows, and rather than dissolving into its environment as it does throughout the day, it appears as the prominent presence on the site.
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