This design was supposed to compete in the Shinkenchiku Residential Design Competition in Japan, 2006; but due to unforseen circumstances, the final design didn’t make it out of the drawing board at all until now. So here it is, in all its glory, an architectural concept which my colleague, Endy Y. Prasetyo from Studio Rurale Surabaya, and I put together two years ago.

Theme Description

It is generally thought that the plan is a means for describing lifestyle. The fundamental principle of this descriptive technique is division. It is thought that the lifestyle inside a house is divided with the device of “walls.” Therefore, if only the elements called “walls” are picked out, and given an expression in which they are emphasized, people may understand the lines on a drawing that indicate the “walls” as describing the essence of a house.

Yet should a house be “walls”? Why can we not describe a house just by furniture? Why can we not describe a house just by tableware? Or what about a descriptive method using only floor textures? As the floor is the only component that the human body directly touches (actually, there are also doorknobs and toilet seats), if we were to describe a house by a technique of scanning with the body, the house would be described as a collection of textured floors. Or it would also be possible to describe a house in terms of air temperature, or in terms of malodorous places due to wind flows.

Why have I become so skeptical with regard to the descriptive method of walls? It is because I feel a sense of unease with the division of lifestyle, and the corresponding methods of spatial division. The cause might lie in devices such as mobile phones, which invalidate spatial divisions, and might also lie in the transformation (the becoming-amorphous) of interpersonal relationships and family relationships. Or, perhaps the “lifestyle” of the person that was the initial premise for the “division of lifestyle” disappears during the era of building a house. Because a person perhaps builds a house for somewhat distinct purposes, if this is investigated more thoroughly, the house, including every “thing,” rather than being something made for some particular purpose could also be said to somehow become a manifestation of its era. Taking a broad view of all of this, I am interested in a plan-less condition.

-Kengo Kuma

A house, in one of its narrowest sense of understanding, is a mere compilation of rooms, thus my partner and I have decided to discard the term room and replace it with a broader term of reference: location. In the end, the house, in our new interpretation, becomes a compilation of locations.

The word “room” indicates a concrete and completed component. Whereas the word “location” does not need to be a tangible chamber. It gains its meaning and character only when related to another “location”. As vague as it is, but at the same time, a “location” acts as a firm base for human activity. “Locations” calls for a brand new space, reffered to as “Space of no intention”. a space without intention directly confronts the functionalism of the modern era. Since the space has no specific function, it allows people within it to freely choose their own activity. Since there is no imposition, it is abundant with cues to activate people. Furthermore it easily relates to other spaces. The space exists wherever people act, so as to say, solidly yet liniently.

-Sou Fujimoto- Architecture Asia Issue 3 / Sept 2005-Nov 2005

In the attempt to achieve a plan-less condition, we decided to completely remove the interior walls therefore rendering the structure without massive spatial division, throwing away rooms, giving way to locations being a more flexible space which Sou Fujimoto refers to as Space of no intention which we interpret as spaces without clear definition since the type of activity the space contains is not yet clear. In our opinion, a space of no intention only needs a catalyst to encourage certain activities, and ultimately defining the location; rendering it no longer as space of no intention but space of intention in fact, the possibility exists for the space to become space with many intentions depending on the dimensions of its catalysts – which in the case of housing are known as furniture. As we have discovered, the larger the size of the catalyst, the greater the activities may vary.

An issue appears due to the removal of massive space dividing elements known as walls, and that issue happens to be privacy. As a solution, we applied different heights to each location, dividing it spatially by raising and / or lowering each location relative to the other; practically rotating the spatial zoning ninety degrees, zoning vertically rather than horizontally which is mostly done with housing projects. The public zone, is located at the very bottom since this is the zone in which various people have access to within it contains locations for living / gallery, and the kitchen. Above this zone, is the semi-public within it the group of people that have access is narrowed down. Locations in it are those such as : dining, and living. Then comes the semi-private zone, where the narrow group of people is narrowed down yet again to a more specific group of people. This level contains locations such as the sleeping areas. Finally, located on the highest point is the private zone containing the bathing area. Philosophically speaking, we think that people are true human beings when they leave all their attributes behind – literally – no longer being the military general he / she may be, or the businessman / career woman they may also be. Just human, simple and pure. Therefore this highly valued state is located in the highest point within the house.