Shochikucho House - Office of Ryue Nishizawa

Shochikucho House

This house for a young family is located in the centre of Kyoto, on a lot in a square block following the city’s grid system, in a high-density district where buildings rising to nearly ten meters without any setbacks. The site &mdasha simple rectangle, long and narrow, that runs east-west&mdash connects to the road on the west side and reminds us of the traditional townhouse that once stood there. This led us to a reflection on 'machiya', or townhouse architecture. As a result, the first step was to promote a sense of continuity with the street by creating an elongated volume to fill the entire site, without any setback and facing the street directly .