House in Sonobe
Tato Architects
Kyoto, Japan
The firm Tato Architects, founded by Yo Shimada and based in Kobe, designed this two-floor house for a family in a mountainous area of Kyoto.

Tato Architects works from offices in the city of Kobe on projects throughout Japan. Its focus of interest lies in the research process behind each project, and in designing spaces that undergo renewal with the passage of time and the people that occupy them.

The floor plan and the volume of the house come from a simple straight grid and its diagonals, giving rise to the different spaces. But the idea of the project does not come from the grid. The region has a cool and wet climate, so terraces are commonly closed up, enabling residents to dry laundry or store things there. Drawing inspiration from these spaces which are inside or out, depending on the time of year, the architects designed the house’s characteristic feature: the large slidable hanging door that makes the sun room either part of the garden or part of the interior, giving the house a continuously changing facade. Similar areas of smaller dimensions were added in other areas of the house, all to serve as interfaces between indoors and out.

Image number 32 of the current section of House in Sonobe of Cosentino USA
© Shinkenchiku Sha 
Image number 33 of the current section of House in Sonobe of Cosentino USA
© Yohei Sasakura
Image number 34 of the current section of House in Sonobe of Cosentino USA
© Shinkenchiku Sha 
Image number 35 of the current section of House in Sonobe of Cosentino USA
© Shinkenchiku Sha 
Image number 36 of the current section of House in Sonobe of Cosentino USA
© Shinkenchiku Sha 
Image number 37 of the current section of House in Sonobe of Cosentino USA
© Yosuke Ohtake
Image number 38 of the current section of House in Sonobe of Cosentino USA
© Yosuke Ohtake
Image number 39 of the current section of House in Sonobe of Cosentino USA
© Yosuke Ohtake
Image number 40 of the current section of House in Sonobe of Cosentino USA
© Yosuke Ohtake
Image number 41 of the current section of House in Sonobe of Cosentino USA
© Yosuke Ohtake
Image number 42 of the current section of House in Sonobe of Cosentino USA
Image number 43 of the current section of House in Sonobe of Cosentino USA
© Shinkenchiku Sha 

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