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Issue 59 - The Life Outside Issue

Issue 59

The Life Outside Issue

Introducing the Life Outside issue of Habitus magazine. With life increasingly being absorbed into a digital space, there is never a more important moment to hold something tangible. In this context, the power of nature to have a physiological impact on our sense of wellbeing has never been more important. So how can we cultivate the benefits of the our natural environment in the most intimate of places – our homes? This was the question that helped to bring this issue of Habitus to life.

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Radiator House By Hiroshi Nakamura Architects
HomesJoanna Kawecki

Radiator House By Hiroshi Nakamura Architects

Japan

Renowned for their abundant use of wood and nature-focussed designs, Hiroshi Nakamura Architects have created a private home with a steel exterior and an all-wood, contrasting interior in Ichikawa, in Tokyo’s neighbouring Chiba Prefecture.


Hiroshi Nakamura Architects have created a private home in Ichikawa, Chiba, known as Radiator House, relating to it’s protective, steel exterior wall and all-wood interior design. Utilising a diversity of contrasting materials, the two-story residence features a balance of stainless steel and natural wood in its design over a site area of 320.61sqm. Built in a dense neighbourhood, the owners requested a sense of privacy in the design. The architects developed a transparent exterior shell as a type of wall surrounding the house, configuring ventilation and air flow to the property. Made from GRC (Reinforced Concrete with Glassfibre) with a supporting stainless steel bar, the 2 centimetre-thick wall is rust-proof and even provides additional soundproofing. The custom wall was created for the property’s specific measurements, originally designed in plaster and made into a silicone rubber mould for replications. “As this would obstruct ventilation, we decided to build a wall approximately 18 m wide on the border between the south garden and adjacent property that would secure both privacy and passage for wind. This wall is similar to the core material of radiators that is used to cool engines,” says Hiroshi Nakamura.

The walls latticed configuration has an integrated radiator design, which draws in the southern wind from the nearby river and in summer it dispels a mist of water from it’s upper section intended as “uchimizu” (the sprinkling of water around a homes entrance that holds a deep, traditional Japanese context from rituals in temples and gardens).Hiroshi further explains, “This type of architectural creativity has faded with the arrival of air conditioners, and architectural structures throughout Japan are becoming nothing more than homogenous boxes. Creating a breeze for someone and feeling this on your skin. I aspire to cherish these warmhearted feelings and customs.”

Inside the residence, an all-wood interior includes a spacious elevated ceiling with large glass windows that occupy the entire North side of the home and look out onto the private garden. With additional window openings at the second floor height, the architects designed a “chimney-effect” that allows accelerated wind-flow at each height.

Hiroshi Nakamura Architects have created a residence with a close consideration of nature in their design, whilst incorporating traditional Japanese rituals in a modern approach.

Hiroshi Nakamura Architects
nakam.info

Photography by Koji Fujii

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Radiator House Hiroshi Nakamura Architects interior dining
Radiator House Hiroshi Nakamura Architects hallway
Radiator House Hiroshi Nakamura Architects interior
Radiator House Hiroshi Nakamura Architects oustide view
Radiator House Hiroshi Nakamura Architects
Radiator House Hiroshi Nakamura Architects steel wall

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Joanna Kawecki

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Chiba PrefectureHiroshiJoanna KaweckiNakamura Architectstokyo


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Issue 59 - The Life Outside Issue

Issue 59

The Life Outside Issue

Introducing the Life Outside issue of Habitus magazine. With life increasingly being absorbed into a digital space, there is never a more important moment to hold something tangible. In this context, the power of nature to have a physiological impact on our sense of wellbeing has never been more important. So how can we cultivate the benefits of the our natural environment in the most intimate of places – our homes? This was the question that helped to bring this issue of Habitus to life.

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