Photo © KOICHI TORIMURA
 
I.F.E.’s website
Projects by Makoto Yamaguchi shown on this blog
 

Relax and enjoy the view…

Have a great weekend!

^Who: Makoto Yamaguchi Design   ^What: Weekend residence (2 adults)   ^Where: Minami Karuizawa, Gunma   ^When: 2003 (completion)   ^How: One-story wood frame construction on reinforced concrete foundation.   ^{Site Area:} 0.34 acre (1360.54m²)   ^{Construction Area:} 737 square feet (68.46m²)   ^{Total Floor Area:} 737 square feet (68.468m²)   ^{Photographer:} Koichi Torimura   ^Website: www.ymgci.net   ^Tag(s): Makoto Yamaguchi

Photos © KOICHI TORIMURA
 

Villa/Gallery in Karuizawa

Karuizawa is a bijou town favoured by weekending Tokyoites. The Villa is perched on a steep slope oriented south in the forest, and looks out over a towering view of mountain ranges.

It is the villa for the couple of musicians. They wanted a flexible space that could work as a villa, gallery for contemporary art -mainly sculptures- and salon for music concert, place to entertain friends. To fulfill the functions, the ‘blank space’ should be required. The kitchen and bath -usual functions of a house- are built into the floor. The materials, requested interestingly no wood should be visible, glass, mirror and polished stainless steel reflect the light and view in the obstacle-less interior. They create an expanded impression of the space, one storey polygon with plenty of empty, white space.

The outside form a remarkable contrast to the interior. The finish of outside, the roof, wall, oblique foundation, is FRP (fiber reinforced plastics) painted in white. The seamless skin looks scaleless ‘point’ in the forest.

Makoto Yamaguchi / Makoto Yamaguchi Design

At first glance, there appears to be nothing unusual. And then when we notice a drawer in each box pulls out from a different direction, we are like “what the f%!# is this?”

I LOVE IT.

^Who: Makoto Yamaguchi Design   ^What: Drawer cabinet   ^Where: “DEROLL Commissions Series 1: box” exhibition   ^When: 2007   ^Materials: Wood (white oak), varnish   ^Dimentions: 27.8(H)x27.2(L)x45.3(W) in.   ^Why: I’m sure the designer wants you to wonder.   ^Website: www.ymgci.net   ^Tag(s): Makoto Yamaguchi

Images courtesy of Makoto Yamaguchi Design.
 

DRAWER, 2007

This work is designed for an exhibition, ‘DEROLL Commissions Series 1: box’ in Tokyo, 2007; which was held in the theme of ‘box’, and participated by 5 famous Japanese architects. This is a cabinet which looks just like 5 simple stacked boxes. You can not find which drawer is able to be drawn, so you will feel surprised that the function of the box suddenly appears when a drawer is opened. You can utilize the remaining space around each box to put some objects as you like.

Makoto Yamaguchi / Makoto Yamaguchi Design

About the image on the left: I bought a copy of this book a few years ago at Barns & Noble just because the house on the cover was beautiful. If you haven’t seen the book yet, the images of the house on the cover can be found on the website of Makoto Yamaguchi who had designed this house. Makoto has just sent those images to us in BIGGER sizes, and we will be posting them on Friday. And you can of course get a copy of Japan Houses at Amazon.com.

About the image on the right: Makoto Ymaguchi’s work ranges from new buildings to the spoon, fork and knife. These utensils are are available in the US at The Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago.

^Who: Makoto Yamaguchi Design   ^What: Single family residence (2 adults + 1 child)   ^Where: Komae, Tokyo   ^When: 2007 (completion)   ^How: One story with basement, reinforced concrete construction.   ^{Site Area:} 2929 square feet (272.13m²)   ^{Construction Area:} 1140 square feet (105.88m²)   ^{Total Floor Area:} 1930 square feet (179.28m²)   ^{Photographer:} DAICI ANO   ^Website: www.ymgci.net   ^Tag(s): Makoto Yamaguchi

Photos © DAICI ANO
 

House in Komae

The site, which is shaped like a flagpole, is completely surrounded by neighboring houses and their garden trees along its periphery. The garden trees give the site a rather preferable impression and the “flagpole” gateway that separates the main site from the public street creates an exceptionally tranquil atmosphere. The neighborhood, however, is dominated by old houses, which are likely to be transformed into more modern apartment buildings at any time. Therefore, the design concept is intended to maintain the living environment of residents without the effects of sudden changes in the surroundings.

A piano room with acoustic issues and private rooms are located in the basement. Four light courts allow daylight into the basement while reflecting it on the curved wall of the vertical vault, creating a quiet and calm atmosphere that is perfect for a basement intended for private use.

The living room on the ground floor is always lit behind the intermittently visible curved wall by openings facing the exterior walls and light courts. A sense of continuing depth lends enchantment to the house. As long as the windows let daylight into the building, the attractiveness of the interior space will not be diminished by any change in the neighboring environment.

A mixture of sizes, shapes, and daylight produced by the unconfined combination of light courts and curved walls continues into the depth, altering the impression bit by bit. A series of slightly and vaguely shifting changes in atmosphere creates a harmonious sense of both segmentation and unity of space at this residence.

Makoto Yamaguchi / Makoto Yamaguchi Design

^Who: Makoto Yamaguchi Design   ^What: “Jointless” picture frames with the bark left on one side of the each frame.   ^Where: prorotype EXHIBITION 02   ^When: 2008   ^Materials: Wood (ash), acrylic   ^Dimentions: 21.4×16.7×2.4 in. (Large), 14.1×10.7×1.6 in. (Medium), 7.5×6.0×1.2 in. (Small)   ^How: These jointless one-piece frames were fabricated using a table saw, band saw, router/rabbeting bit, and chisels.   ^Website: www.ymgci.net   ^Tag(s): Makoto Yamaguchi