we poured the very last tiles in the molds for the the front parking space yesterday. Tomorrow they will be broken from their boxes and laid in place, completing that part of the project. It was a very good feeling to strike off the last bit of concrete with a trowel and clean up the site for the last time. My younger brother came to see the home and stayed for the day to help out with the blocks as well, which made the work even more enjoyable.

今日は、最後のブロックを作って、明日に型枠をばらして乗せます。 それで、駐車所の仕事は完成します。

In the meantime, an entirely separate milestone was reached with the last lightbulb put in this morning. It is a small thing but makes the house feel complete more than many of the other little things on the checklist towards completion. It is also very nice to finally have the airconditioning units and the floor heating hooked up, so the workmen finishing up on the inside can do so without seeing their breath.

Lighting is something we are taught about only a little in architecture school and it is an elusive art when it comes to practicing in the real world. For us the hardest lamp to spec turned out to be the exterior parking lamps – the round lamps in the image above. In the end, we took advantage of the expertise of the electrician, who made these customised lights for us by modifying and combining standard sockets to create a minimal base, and simply screwing in the circular lights we found. This was both cheaper and simpler than any high-end lamps we could find, all of which were incredibly elaborate – and the final piece is very satisfying. Thanks Mr. Fukushima! The only dissapointment we have with these lights is that the manufacturer no longer makes the larger sized round lamps we specced so we had to be satisified with these slightly smaller versions that remain in production. We are looking for a similar manufacturer, or at least someone with older lamps in stock, but for now this is more than ok.

照明は全部入りました。一番難しい所は、駐車所の天井でした。最後には、電気屋さんに頼んで普通のソケットを加工してもらいました。高いものを使うより、その事をするとミニマルなランプベースが出来ました。

↓↓ Some more lamps, round the house…

家にある照明。。。

and lest we forget the home was designed around access to natural light…

照明だけじゃなくて、自然光が入るように設計した住宅を忘れないように。。。

the house is nearing the end of the end, and cleaning is underway.

this act always strikes me as slightly funny as the cleaners are inevitably working the same time as the people who are making the mess and the whole things needs to be cleaned a few times before the work is done. most remarkable, the cleaners never complain.

最後の最後の日は近付きましたので、クリーニングが始まりました。

the exterior works are not yet ready for cleaning. but the blocks we have been making over the last month or so are being put in. if all goes well in a day or two the work will be done and we will see how it looks altogether.

外部はまだ掃除が出来ませんが、私達が作ったコンクリートブロックは昨日から入れています。 出来たもの物を見れるまで楽しみにしています。

the last post spoke of unexpected pinkness. This one speaks about white-ness.

以前、ピンクとオレンジ/ローズの事を話しましたが、今回は白についてお話します。

Although it was not a purposeful dichotomy the exterior is of the home is quite strongly expressed (with both color and material), while the interior is more of what might be expected of a contemporay Japanese house – lots of white space and glass – and now most recently, a beautifully finished wall of white-ness has been added to the stairs, courtesy of a layer of luxuriously silky washi. This is very nearly the last layer to be put in place for this complicated wall -all that remains is a cap of steel, designed to give a bit of stiffness to the whole by tieing the pieces together.

わざとじゃないですけど、外部と内部は二分法的な感じになっています。外部は強い色で仕上がっていますし、材料は丈夫な物です。内部は少し違います。日本の現代的な建物は、最近白壁、硝子の感じが多いですが、この建物も白と硝子を使います。　最近この住宅の階段室は、和紙仕上で白くなりました。すごくきれいです。

Some of you who follow this blog may wonder where the holes in the stair wall went. They are still there, but only visible when backlit. It is a subtle thing – and an attempt of sorts at making this small home a bit more experiential – a place that changes its character, if in small ways, as the day plays out.

前の写真を見た方々は、階段室の壁の穴はどこにあるのかと考えるかもしれませんが、実は、その穴はまだふさいではなく、後ろから光がある時だけに見えます。これは日常生活の中に少しでも、いろんな表情がうまれてくると思います。　朝、昼、夜、にはこの空間の雰囲気が変わります。

If you look closely at the photo above you might notice also there are 4 doors under the stairs, all finished with the same satiny washi, so they dissapear into the wall when un-used. Only the handle to the washroom door is visible (there is a lock, but only seen on the inside to reduce clutter), making the space quite clean.

上の写真を見れば、階段の下に四つの扉があります。良い仕上がりになりましたので、扉のハンドルしか見えない感じになりました。この空間はシンプルなものになりました。

“It’s pink!”

The neighbour across the road from the Yoyogi House stepped out onto the road to intercept us when we walked up to the site this morning. She was excited about the color of the house, acting as spokeswoman for the neighbours on the street, who apparently were surprised to see this floating pink animal appear seemingly from nowhere, once the scaffolding was taken down – even money she was speaking for herself as well.

In fact the color is rose-orange, but in the right light, pink works well enough as a description. For us though, more than the color the appearance of a box hanging out in space – resting only on a single outstretched arm – is mesmerising. once the flashing is installed on the roof, and the textile/landscape blocks laid down the effect promises to be very strong. It will also be very nice to see the parking area cleaned of the equipment. There has literally been no room for the workmen to practice their trades for most of this project and now the last remaining open space is in the parking lot. Will be nice to see it open and clear in just a few more days.

近所の方々は色を見て驚いています。しかし、私達は、色より空間ほうが興奮しています。駐車所の上に、伸ばしている腕だけで支えているなよう箱が浮揚しているみたいで、うっとりします。この正面に関しては、駐車所の床レンガを入れると屋根の水切を付けるだけを残しています。終わったら、すごく良い感じになると思います。

the next few days will focus on finishing the interior and the landscape, the latter having got a good start, now the garden has been filled with soil.

こんどの三日間は、ランドスケープを作成します。土をいれて、庭がすでに大分進んでいます。 後はウードデッキと床レンガだけが残ります。

on the interior, most of the doors and furniture has been installed. below is the kitchen unit. We tried a small experiment this time, choosing to design it ourselves and have it made by a furniture maker, instead of going with a large manufacturer, which is more typical. While we have never really been disatisfied by the work of the large companies, they do not offer very much choice in terms of design. We wondered if it was possible to get our own design made for the same cost, or cheaper. The result; we can do it ourselves for less, without losing out on quality at all. A very happy lesson learned.

内部のほうも結構進んでいます。キッチンカウンターが入って、これから機械と壁のタイル仕上をします。今回のキッチン家具は、自分で設計して作って貰いました。今までは、大きいメーカーに頼んでやっていましたけど、そうするとデザインチョイスはあまりないです。同じ値段で自分のデザインが出来るか出来ない事を小さい研究としてやりました。結果的には、メーカーの値段と変わらず、自分のデザインで出来ました。

Though they do not define the home, there are some nice features starting to emerge as the work nears the end.Part of our approach with this house was to try to make a project that shows something of the act of construction. In Japan this feels almost perverse – the trend lately is towards making buildings as featureless as possible – immaterial; even, almost, WITHOUT material. But here we asked the contractor to refrain from touching up the concrete too much, and chose an exterior finish that is by its nature a little bit rough, if not ugly. In contrast to that uncomplicated and coarse exterior the details on the inside are careful, and in some instances, subtle.

↑ ↓ lighting in the entrance and hallway

↓↓ kitchen cabinets.

↓↓ living room shelf.

↓↓ front door.