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Go Hasegawa: house in
Kyodo
The architect's latest house adopts a traditional Japanese construction feature,
bringing a beaten-earth floor into the home.
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Architecture / Salvator-John A. Liotta

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Salvator-John A. Liotta Architecture
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Photography Keywords
Iwan Baan Augustin Berque, Go Hasegawa, Kyodo House, Pin to Pinterest
Ryue Nishizawa, Taira Nishizawa, Testuro
Published
Watsuji, Wood
13 March 2012

Location
Tokyo

The latest work by Go Hasegawa — born in 1977 — is a small two-

storey house for two publishers, people who live and breathe
storey house for two publishers, people who live and breathe
printed matter and who wanted to organically slot their huge
book and magazine collection into the design. The house is in
Kyodo, in the west of Tokyo prefecture and a few stops from
Shibuya, in the residential Setagaya district. It has a rectangular
plan measuring almost 70 square metres. Although small,
Hasegawa's design is bold enough to extend and open up to a
surrounding cityscape of low buildings and gardens.

Spatial Continuity
Hasegawa has designed a spatial layout with a basic narrative,
two storeys of different heights covered by a reflecting silver
pitched roof, "The ground floor of the house has a height of just
1m 80cm, a cosy space with all the books to hand, establishing
an intimate relationship between the human body and the books.
I inserted the bathroom, hall, study, bedroom and storage in the
spaces between the publications. The upper floor is a large living
room and kitchen."

A pupil of Taira Nishizawa — older brother of the better known

Ryue — Go Hasegawa employs almost imperceptible devices that
bring quality to the design. Here in Kyodo, as in other designs, he
has created continuity between interior and exterior in a new
take on the doma, a traditional construction feature that brought
a beaten-earth floor into the home. The second floor is one
undivided space overlooking the neighbours' gardens at the
sides. The shiny roof — made of 6cm-thick steel sandwich panels
— gently reverberates the light and the greenery from the outside
to fill the house with a soft ambience.
The ground floor is low-ceilinged, intimate and introvert whereas the upper one is high-ceilinged, open and extrovert

Dynamic Section
Hasegawa has made a clear distinction between the upper and
lower sections of the design. The ground floor is low-ceilinged,
intimate and introvert whereas the upper one is high-ceilinged,
open and extrovert. On the ground floor, reading is a solitary and
silent act but the upper floor has been designed for conviviality
and socialising.

This split into two parts should not be seen as a slash or

separation but rather as a dynamic section that forms a coherent
whole. The 20th-century Japanese philosopher Testuro
Watsuji[1] defined the dynamic section as the structural moment
of human existence, a generator of senses that combines the two
halves that form the human being. Augustin Berque argued, "on
the one hand, we have what we call the animal body, which is
individual; on the other, we have what we call the social body,
which is collective and consists in technical and symbolic
systems developed from the human body. The result is a medial
body comprising more than the sum of the two halves and

producing an eco-techno-symbolic milieu. The ontological

producing an eco-techno-symbolic milieu. The ontological
structure of the human is composed of this definition of
mediality." [2]

Although small, Hasegawa's design is bold

enough to extend and open up to a surrounding
cityscape of low buildings and gardens

Previously unseen spatial and social relations

Although Hasegawa employs simple and elementary forms, clear
proportions, nothing striking outrageous and everyday materials,
something makes him an innovative architect. It is the
arrangement of the masses that produces new relationships
between the top and bottom, inside and outside of the spatial and
social entity.

In Kyodo House, the owners — in accord with Hasegawa —

decided to tacitly ban printed matter from the second floor of the
house to balance the overflow of magazines and books.
 house to balance the overflow of magazines and books.
Essentially, it is a question of harmony and the slender balance
between opposites at which the Japanese frequently achieve so
successfully. Salvator-John A. Liotta

Notes
1. Tetsurô Watuji, Fûdo, Le milieu humain, Paris, CNRS, 2011
(Fûdo, 1935)
2. Augustin Berque, La Nouvelle Revue Française (nrf), n° 599-
600, March 2012, Du Japon, p. 33-55

Here in Kyodo, Hasegawa has created continuity

between interior and exterior in a new take on the
doma, a traditional construction feature that
brought a beaten-earth floor into the home

On the ground floor, reading is a solitary and silent act but the upper floor has been designed for conviviality and socialising

House in Kyodo for Two Publishers

 House in Kyodo for Two Publishers
Location: Setegaya, Tokyo
Principal use: Residential
Site area: 72.89m²
Total floor area: 67.90m²
Number of storeys: 2
Structure: Timber frame
Architect: Go Hasegawa
Structural engineer: Ohno Japan
Construction firm: Taishin Construction

The ground floor of the house has a height of just 1m 80cm, a cosy space with all the books to hand, establishing an intimate relationship between the
human body and the books
The second floor is one undivided space overlooking the neighbours' gardens at the sides
 The house is in Kyodo, in the west of Tokyo prefecture and a few stops from Shibuya, in the residential Setagaya district

Author Sections Network

Salvator-John A. Liotta Architecture
Like on Facebook Share on Twitter
Photography Keywords
Iwan Baan Augustin Berque, Go Hasegawa, Kyodo House, Pin to Pinterest
Ryue Nishizawa, Taira Nishizawa, Testuro
Watsuji, Wood

Location
Tokyo

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