House in Minami-Senri / FujiwaraMuro Architects

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The sunken living room on the first-floor functions as a space for entertaining guests, and the bench offers a view of the garden that extends under the bridge. From inside the room, this garden inspired by streams looks as if leading somewhere far away. Two small courtyards are situated between the living room and the more private kitchen-cum-dining area.The entrance is accessed from a stepping stone pathway with plantings on the right and then up a staircase that penetrates into the floating building. The 1.5-meter setback from the site boundary where any construction is prohibited is utilized as a garden strip. By making it visible from the first-floor living, dining, and kitchen spaces, we gave this limited space a sense of expansion and diverse views.The corridor bridged over the garden, reminiscent of a garden path, overlooks the garden and the sky, leading to each private room on the second floor. The three gardens provide depth and expansiveness to the house.Text description provided by the architects.In a residential area in the Hokusetsu district of Osaka, the house is located on a long, narrow site with different ground levels. The client, a chef of Japanese cuisine, requested to use various traditional Japanese finishing materials. Effective use of the site's different ground levels offers different viewpoints and varied and expansive spaces.