Week5 - Koshino House.

"This building is located on the verdant slope of a national park. Tadao Ando arranged two organic concrete boxes in parallel so as to avoid the scattered trees, and had them buried half-way into the ground. The two boxes, of different sizes, are linked by an underground corridor and they also frank a courtyard. One volume comprises two levels; the lower level accommodates the living room, the kitchen and the dining room, and the upper level, the master bedroom. The living room is of double height and becomes the core of this building. The stepped courtyard generated between the two volumes functions as an outdoor living room, and wide stairs receive and reflect the natural light trickling through the trees and serve as an extension of the stage for everyday life. It is an autonomous exterior space, a part of nature that has been isolated and fashioned by man. The atelier was added four years after the house was completed. By introducing a curve into the rectilinear scheme, Ando arrived at a new composition. A wall describing a quarter-circle arc holds back the earth and defines a territory. Although this feature was not originally planned, the addition completes the entire composition."

Reference: Information/image posted by MICHEL on pushpullbar on 10/12/2007 http://www.pushpullbar.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1790&highlight=koshino+house (accessed: 28/08/2008)

Tadao Ando on the Koshino House.

"Light is the origin of all being. Striking the surface of things, light grants them an outline; gathering shadows behind things, it gives them depth. Things are articulated around borders of light and darkness, and obtain their individual form, discovering interrelationships, and become infinitely linked."

Reference: Francesco Dal Co, Tadao Ando's Complete Works, Published by Phaidon.