House in Eba
広島市内に建つ設計者の自邸。敷地は目の前の江波山を貫通するトンネルとその擁壁によってほとんどが日影で覆われており、そのため周辺地域の中ではどこか扱いづらく、取り残された場所のように見えたが、市街地とは思えない緑豊かな環境の広がりはそれ以上の魅力に感じられた。
この環境と建築を繋ぎたい。そのためには建物内から見える遠景を取り込むだけでなく、自らつくりだした近景を重ねることで、建築、周辺環境、庭が一体的に繋がる関係を生み出せないかと考えた。まず地表面を生活の主体として考えてみると、目の前に擁壁があるため建築と緑の連続性は生まれそうにない。擁壁の高さを計測したところ、緑豊かな景色は地面からおよそ4mから一望できることがわかった。2階を生活の主体とし、内外の境界に植栽で満たされた半屋外の場をつくり、そこを「接庭(つぎにわ)」と定義した。接庭は、地面からの高さを4m程度とすることで遠景の江波山と水平に重なり、内部からは奥行きのある風景が生み出された。また、接庭の植栽に日光が行き渡るように、南と東方向に床を伸ばすことで雁行した形状となり、結果として日射しや隣地からの視線を緩やかに調整するこに繋がった。
さらに建築と植栽が絡み合った外観となることで、建築と南側の遠景が重なり合い、街並みに新たな緑の風景をつくりだすことができたのではと考えている。
A "connecting yard" that integrates architecture with the surrounding environment
This is the residence of a designer located in Hiroshima City. In addition to its irregular shape, the site mostly stands in the shadow of the retaining wall and the tunnel running through Mt. Eba in front of it. Although the site was somewhat unwieldy and looked a little out of place amid its surroundings, the expanse of lush greenery that is almost unimaginable for an urban area lined with houses and buildings was highly captivating. Our goal was to integrate the architecture, the surrounding environment, and the courtyard into a coherent whole by not only incorporating views of the distant landscape that can be enjoyed from inside the building but also superimposing the background with the foreground that we have created. When assessing the suitability of the first floor as the primary living area for this site, we noticed that the retaining wall in front of the building would likely disrupt the continuity between the architecture and the greenery. We then measured the height of the retaining wall and found that panoramic views of the lush greenery could be enjoyed from approximately 4m above ground level. This prompted us to designate the second floor as the primary living area instead and create a semi-outdoor zone filled with plants along the boundary between the inside and the outside, which we have called the "connecting yard." This connecting yard was set up at a height of around 4m above ground level, thus creating a horizontal overlap with the distant landscape while giving depth to the visual perception of the surroundings. In addition, we extended the floor towards the southeast to create a flying geese pattern, which allows the sunlight filtering in and the line of sight from neighboring areas to be finely calibrated. The connecting yard has also become part of the exterior, breathing new life into the existing urban landscape through the superposition of architecture and the background in the distance.