https://www.architecturalrecord.com/rss/2399 en-us Inspired by that magical space sheltered beneath leafy, deciduous branches, Tree House, designed by Mount Fuji Architects Studio, revolves around a single column measuring 4 feet in diameter that supports frames (aka “branches”) of engineered wood.

]]> 10_tree_house.asp Mon, 19 Apr 2010 00:00:00 -0400 https://www.architecturalrecord.com/articles/8784-tree-house Architects Masahiro and Mao Harada, the principals of Mount Fuji Architects Studio, are mountain people. Veteran climbers, they hike parts of the Japan Alps annually with their office staff and named their firm after the country’s most venerated peak.

]]> http://www.architecturalrecord.com/articles/14209 Tue, 01 Dec 2009 00:00:00 -0500 https://www.architecturalrecord.com/articles/14209-design-vanguard-2009-mount-fuji-architects-studio Located on a steeply sloped site in Shizuoka Prefecture on Japan’s main island of Honshu, this second home is composed of two intersecting tubes of space. One faces a protected forest and the other the Pacific Ocean. Clad entirely in white marble, the house has living, dining, and kitchen areas plus an expansive terrace upstairs. The bedrooms and a bath supplied by a natural hot spring are in the lower tube. Distinguished by its gradated finish, the white marble becomes increasingly smooth toward the home’s extremities, where it reflects the spectacular scenery and merges architecture with nature. Photo © Ken’ichi Suzuki Located on a steeply sloped site in Shizuoka Prefecture on Japan’s main island of Honshu, this second home is composed of two intersecting tubes of space. One faces a protected forest and the other the Pacific Ocean. Clad entirely in white marble, the house has living, dining, and kitchen areas plus an expansive terrace upstairs. The bedrooms and a bath supplied by a natural hot spring are in the lower tube. Distinguished by its gradated finish, the white marble becomes increasingly smooth toward the home’s extremities, where it reflects the spectacular scenery and merges architecture with nature. Photo © Ken’ichi Suzuki Located on a steeply sloped site in Shizuoka Prefecture on Japan’s main island of Honshu, this second home is composed of two intersecting tubes of space. One faces a protected forest and the other the Pacific Ocean. Clad entirely in white marble, the house has living, dining, and kitchen areas plus an expansive terrace upstairs. The bedrooms and a bath supplied by a natural hot spring are in the lower tube. Distinguished by its gradated finish, the white marble becomes increasingly smooth toward the home’s extremities, where it reflects the spectacular scenery and merges architecture with nature. Photo © Ken’ichi Suzuki Located on a steeply sloped site in Shizuoka Prefecture on Japan’s main island of Honshu, this second home is composed of two intersecting tubes of space. One faces a protected forest and the other the Pacific Ocean. Clad entirely in white marble, the house has living, dining, and kitchen areas plus an expansive terrace upstairs. The bedrooms and a bath supplied by a natural hot spring are in the lower tube. Distinguished by its gradated finish, the white marble becomes increasingly smooth toward the home’s extremities, where it reflects the spectacular scenery and merges architecture with nature. Photo © Ken’ichi Suzuki Located on a steeply sloped site in Shizuoka Prefecture on Japan’s main island of Honshu, this second home is composed of two intersecting tubes of space. One faces a protected forest and the other the Pacific Ocean. Clad entirely in white marble, the house has living, dining, and kitchen areas plus an expansive terrace upstairs. The bedrooms and a bath supplied by a natural hot spring are in the lower tube. Distinguished by its gradated finish, the white marble becomes increasingly smooth toward the home’s extremities, where it reflects the spectacular scenery and merges architecture with nature. Photo © Ken’ichi Suzuki A combined home and office for a couple and their dachshunds, Sakura sits within a densely built, residential neighborhood in the middle of Tokyo. To separate their clients’ domain from the surrounding congestion, the architects wrapped two sides of the house with self-supporting walls of lacy steel. Decorated with a punched, floral pattern inspired by a traditional paper stencil depicting cherry blossoms, the metal sheets successfully shield the interior from view but let in plenty of daylight. Photo © Ryota Atarashi A combined home and office for a couple and their dachshunds, Sakura sits within a densely built, residential neighborhood in the middle of Tokyo. To separate their clients’ domain from the surrounding congestion, the architects wrapped two sides of the house with self-supporting walls of lacy steel. Decorated with a punched, floral pattern inspired by a traditional paper stencil depicting cherry blossoms, the metal sheets successfully shield the interior from view but let in plenty of daylight. Photo © Ryota Atarashi A combined home and office for a couple and their dachshunds, Sakura sits within a densely built, residential neighborhood in the middle of Tokyo. To separate their clients’ domain from the surrounding congestion, the architects wrapped two sides of the house with self-supporting walls of lacy steel. Decorated with a punched, floral pattern inspired by a traditional paper stencil depicting cherry blossoms, the metal sheets successfully shield the interior from view but let in plenty of daylight. Photo © Ryota Atarashi A private residence on the outskirts of Tokyo, Rainy/Sunny stands out from its neighbors but melds comfortably with its physical climate. In Japan, most smooth-surfaced, concrete buildings look great at completion but quickly lose their good looks after exposure to the country’s high humidity levels and heavy rains. Instead, this house is enclosed with concrete walls whose shinglelike, saw-toothed profile keeps the water at bay while a full-height window wall on the south side opens onto a garden, bathing the interior with sunshine and daylight. Photo © Ryota Atarashi A private residence on the outskirts of Tokyo, Rainy/Sunny stands out from its neighbors but melds comfortably with its physical climate. In Japan, most smooth-surfaced, concrete buildings look great at completion but quickly lose their good looks after exposure to the country’s high humidity levels and heavy rains. Instead, this house is enclosed with concrete walls whose shinglelike, saw-toothed profile keeps the water at bay while a full-height window wall on the south side opens onto a garden, bathing the interior with sunshine and daylight. Photo © Ryota Atarashi An entry to a conceptual competition conducted by Japan’s Casa Brutus magazine, this scheme offers an innovative design for a contemporary art museum in Mexico City. In response to the requirement for a sustainable, low-scale building incorporating a green space, the architects proposed digging a series of holes that would serve as molds for the concrete panels and eliminate the need for wood formwork. Once cured, the concrete panels would stand upright and the excavated spaces would become quasi-independent exhibition spaces. Rendering courtesy Mount Fuji Architects Studio Planned for the tony second-home community of Hayama, this unbuilt villa fronts the Pacific and backs onto the mountains of the Miura Peninsula. Inspired by the landscape, the architects eschewed a traditional Cartesian coordinate system for an organic series of connected, treelike frames that blend column and beam together. They then trimmed the “trees,” enclosed them in a box, and divided the volume into three floors plus a basement. Photo courtesy Mount Fuji Architects Studio Planned for the tony second-home community of Hayama, this unbuilt villa fronts the Pacific and backs onto the mountains of the Miura Peninsula. Inspired by the landscape, the architects eschewed a traditional Cartesian coordinate system for an organic series of connected, treelike frames that blend column and beam together. They then trimmed the “trees,” enclosed them in a box, and divided the volume into three floors plus a basement. Rendering courtesy Mount Fuji Architects Studio A commentary on the abstract, white walls of Modern architecture, M3/KG is a cavelike dwelling made of stone, iron, and textured concrete with a wood-grain imprint. Located in Tokyo’s Meguro-ku district, the house was designed for a couple in the movie production business. It consists of two sections: a double-height living room defined by a series of engineered wood frames and an L-shaped concrete block that contains the kitchen, bedroom, gallery, and film archive. Floor-to-ceiling bookcases provide a dramatic visual element to the two-story living room. Photo © Ryota Atarashi A commentary on the abstract, white walls of Modern architecture, M3/KG is a cavelike dwelling made of stone, iron, and textured concrete with a wood-grain imprint. Located in Tokyo’s Meguro-ku district, the house was designed for a couple in the movie production business. It consists of two sections: a double-height living room defined by a series of engineered wood frames and an L-shaped concrete block that contains the kitchen, bedroom, gallery, and film archive. Floor-to-ceiling bookcases provide a dramatic visual element to the two-story living room. Photo © Satoshi Asakawa A commentary on the abstract, white walls of Modern architecture, M3/KG is a cavelike dwelling made of stone, iron, and textured concrete with a wood-grain imprint. Located in Tokyo’s Meguro-ku district, the house was designed for a couple in the movie production business. It consists of two sections: a double-height living room defined by a series of engineered wood frames and an L-shaped concrete block that contains the kitchen, bedroom, gallery, and film archive. Floor-to-ceiling bookcases provide a dramatic visual element to the two-story living room. Photo © Ryota Atarashi