■ خانه ای در توکیو بخش معماری

‘Reflection of Mineral’ – a Unique Tokyo House by Yasuhiro Yamashita
‘Reflection of Mineral’l is a 480-square-foot (about 45 square meters) residence located in downtown Tokyo’s Nakano ward. Designed by architect Yasuhiro Yamashita of Atelier Tekuto‘Reflection of Mineral’ has received wide architecture and design media attention and numerous international awards.
Conforming to legal conditions and in response to the client’s wish for a ‘roofed garage’ the volume was trimmed from various directions. ‘Minerals’ and ‘reflection’ are keywords that help turn the negative factor of elimination into a positive one.

Minerals’ are considered to combine abstract properties (conceptual object) with nonfigurative properties (object whose presence of matter is more obvious). Changes from transparent, translucent to opaque occur according to light entering in certain ways at certain angles. The body can in no way be treated as a simple element.

Reflection’ is a recent keyword pertaining to the perception of space. Vision is an important factor in the recognition of space. My interest lies in such area of visual perception. By shaping volumes in polyhedra (facets with three factors―transparent, translucent and opaque) and entangling them in three-dimensional way inside the internal space, visual reflection is induced, which results in deviation from the restrictiveness of space.
Then as people move inside the space or with light entering at a certain angle the facet’s presence changes, bringing about diversity in space. Inside the polyhedron equipped with such abstractiveness are the kitchen, counter shelf, stairs, floors and toilet box equipped with functionality that exist as nonfigurative objects.
The bathroom box on third floor features a mirror finish in stainless steel, which combines both factors of object and reflection, and presents itself as a substitution of both ‘minerals’ and ‘reflection’.
Depending on viewpoint, the house looks like a bulky camper van about to take off. Or it seems to be the result of a giant’s frustrated attempt to fashion a house from a square box. Realizing that the site is too small and the wrong shape for his house, the giant just stuffed the house into the site by force. The whimsy of this beautiful residence is a big part of its charm. At the same time, the house is also an elegant expression of modern Japanese minimalism, and an example of brilliant use of a sparse site, a requirement in the tight space of downtown Tokyo.