House in Nasu by Kazunori Fujimoto Architect & Associates

House in Nasu by Kazunori Fujimoto

Japanese studio Kazunori Fujimoto Architect & Associates have completed a weekend house in Nasu, Tochigi Prefecture, Japan, where two gabled structures are separated by a walled courtyard.

House in Nasu by Kazunori Fujimoto

The house is divided into two parts with a double-height open-plan room on one side of the courtyard, and the bathroom and storage space on the other.

House in Nasu by Kazunori Fujimoto

The bedroom, kitchen and dining room are all in one room, with a free-standing wall creating a partition.

House in Nasu by Kazunori Fujimoto

Photographs are by Kazunori Fujimoto.

House in Nasu by Kazunori Fujimoto

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House in Nasu by Kazunori Fujimoto

Here’s some more information from the architect:


House in Nasu

This is a weekend house built in the area height of above sea level 550m, in Nasu-town, Tochigi Prefecture.

House in Nasu by Kazunori Fujimoto

Though in the resort town, the road and the neighbor houses are near by the site, and it seems difficult to keep a privacy.

House in Nasu by Kazunori Fujimoto

So we aimed to make an indoor space like a Scandinavian soft interiors instead of the room open directly to the outside .

House in Nasu by Kazunori Fujimoto

The surrounding’s tall trees blur the outline of the house, and the interior, they give the abstract light, shade, and many of colors.

House in Nasu by Kazunori Fujimoto

It is one-room space that has two big windows and a concrete wall.

House in Nasu by Kazunori Fujimoto

By the two windows the room connected to the outside environment.

House in Nasu by Kazunori Fujimoto

Closing the white curtains, all symbols as “house” are hidden, and the color and materials that can be seen are limited, still more, the abstract space is filled calm atmosphere.

House in Nasu by Kazunori Fujimoto

The inside concrete wall like “monolith” divide the space generously, and put the life in order.

House in Nasu by Kazunori Fujimoto

Location: Nasu, Tochigi, Japan
Main use: weekend house

House in Nasu by Kazunori Fujimoto

Site area: 504m2
House in Nasu by Kazunori Fujimoto

Building area: 85.44m2

House in Nasu by Kazunori Fujimoto

Total floor area: 85.44m2

House in Nasu by Kazunori Fujimoto

Click for larger image

Design term: 2009

House in Nasu by Kazunori Fujimoto

Construction term: 2010

House in Nasu by Kazunori Fujimoto


See also:

.

House in Sunami by
Kazunori Fujimoto
House in Koamicho by
Suppose Design Office
House in Ise by Takashi Yamaguchi & Associates

Casal de la Juventud de Novelda by CrystalZoo

Casal de la Juventud de Novelda by Crystalzoo

Spanish studio CrystalZoo have renovated this former school in Novelda, Spain, to create a youth centre for the area. 

Casal de la Juventud de Novelda by Crystalzoo

Top photograph is by David Frutos

Called Casal de la Juventud de Novelda, the upper part of the building has been wrapped with a skin of polycarbonate panels, causing it to overhang the lower part.

Casal de la Juventud de Novelda by Crystalzoo

The architects have created a new plaza at the entrance of the building, featuring little grassy mounds and a zig-zag pattern on the paving that creeps up onto the wall of the centre.

Casal de la Juventud de Novelda by Crystalzoo

The windows are slightly recessed in the façade and highlighted in bright colours.

Casal de la Juventud de Novelda by Crystalzoo

Photographs are by Rafael Galán unless otherwise stated.

Casal de la Juventud de Novelda by Crystalzoo

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Casal de la Juventud de Novelda by Crystalzoo

Above photograph is by David Frutos

The following information is from the architects:


Casal de la Juventud de Novelda

This building is placed in Novelda, a small town near Alicante (Spain).

Casal de la Juventud de Novelda by Crystalzoo

It consists in a renovation of an old school building ant its yard to allow new public uses.

Casal de la Juventud de Novelda by Crystalzoo

This proposal is a work about the reuse of old buildings and their adaptation to contemporary needs.

Casal de la Juventud de Novelda by Crystalzoo

In this sense the Casal de la Juventud reinvents itself and establishes a dialogue between each stage of its evolution.

Casal de la Juventud de Novelda by Crystalzoo

Above photograph is by David Frutos

Life opens up, in this case, creating a new wrapper able to equip the building and the plaza with new technologies and services.

Casal de la Juventud de Novelda by Crystalzoo

Above photograph is by David Frutos

The plaza is raised as a hub of social activity in Novelda.

Casal de la Juventud de Novelda by Crystalzoo

Above: existing building

This system consists in connecting paths that also define soft areas that can adapt and establish links with what is happening inside the building.

Casal de la Juventud de Novelda by Crystalzoo

Click for larger image

Working with an old school offers the opportunity to have the yard, which is a valuable open space within the dense urban fabric.

Casal de la Juventud de Novelda by Crystalzoo

Click for larger image

This courtyard is a place that complements and makes possible the use of this new building.

Casal de la Juventud de Novelda by Crystalzoo

Click for larger image

Materiality and lighting are the way this proposal establishes new links and relationships between the building and the public space.

Casal de la Juventud de Novelda by Crystalzoo

Click for larger image

We try to provide complete and sophisticated equipment to this building and its plaza, through the installation of a new structure that surrounds the old school, with its own program, and also the support for the new activities.

Casal de la Juventud de Novelda by Crystalzoo

Click for larger image

This structure provides lighting, energy and information systems, that define the specific environments for all the different situations that may happen.

Casal de la Juventud de Novelda by Crystalzoo

Click for larger image

Casal de la Juventud de Novelda by Crystalzoo

Click for larger image

Casal de la Juventud de Novelda by Crystalzoo

Click for larger image


See also:

.

Seu University of La Nucia by CrystalZooEducational Centre by Alejandro Muñoz MirandaResidential extension by dB_dubail begert architectes

QuaDror

Dror unveils his innovative multi-use space truss geometry
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Designer Dror Benshetrit took the stage at Design Indaba‘s opening day to unveil a project he spent the last four years working on: QuaDror. A versatile structural support system, QuaDror is a fresh take on space truss geometry that offers innumerable solutions for use and eliminates redundancy in structure. “Mass is one of the worst in terms of energy waste,” Dror told Cool Hunting.

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A hinge without a revolution joint, the QuaDror is extremely strong and energy efficient, but the real beauty about QuaDror is its flexibility. The robust nature of the design allows it to hold up to 86 QuaDrors on top of each other. When stacked the unit can serve as a sound barrier or temporary wall; when collapsed, the QuaDror is completely flat. Dror explained that while you can fit 1,750 pieces in one shipping container, that fact isn’t even relevant because “there is no reason why you can’t just produce them locally”—a brilliant aspect when finding immediate solutions for disaster relief, which is another viable option for the form’s purpose.