Picture Window House / ピクチャーウインドウの家
Ito, Shizuoka / 静岡県伊東市
2002
A gentle hill continues up from the ocean's edge, and near its peak isthe location of the site; a place that, amazingly in Japan, is uncluttered by any unsightly distractions. The first time I set foot on the site, my
immediate response was to frame the wonderful view of the ocean stretching horizontally. That is to say that the building itself should become a picture window. Also, to prevent the architecture from becoming an obstacle disrupting the natural sense of flow from the ocean, I've thought of maintaining that continuity by passing it through the building up to the woods at the top
of the hill. Thus, the whole upper storey became a truss spanning 20 meters, and below, a 20 meter by 2.5 meter picture window was created.
海から続く小高い丘のほぼ頂上に位置する敷地にはじめて立ったとき、建築自体をピクチャー・ウインドウとみなし、水平に広がる景色を切り取り、さらには海からの景色の流れを建築が仕切ってしまわずに、裏の雑木林に連続させていくことを考えた。そこで2階全体を梁せいとした20メートルスパンのトラスを構成し、1階を20mx2.5mのピクチャーウインドウとしている。