Kiyose House

150m2 Renovation - Kiyose, Tokyo
Will Galloway, Koen Klinkers, Yuka Takeuchi

When it appears in media Japanese architecture is presented at its most spectacular. Exceptional construction or high-end concepts are centre to the narrative in almost every case. Reality is more often glimpsed in anime that aim for realism as they highlight larger concepts and actions, sometimes surreal, sometimes hyper-normal and banal. Kiyose house sits in a typical suburban neighborhood outside of Tokyo’s core. The neighborhood mixes uneasily with farmland and generic highway shops and infrastructure. In itself the house is inexpensively built though sturdy. The intended lifespan is clear in the lightness of its construction and the lack of durability of its finishes and substructure. In short it is a typical Japanese house built for the market as cheaply as possible and with very efficient plans at a time when housing was expensive and not easy to access.
This is not the kind of building that is normally restored or renovated. In Japan it is much more common to tear it down and replace it with a new factory-made or bespoke home. But times have changed and the pressure on the market is somewhat reduced. So we were asked to consider the house as if it were an old factory ready for a new life. An interesting request, because the home itself is not materially expressive and has no patina of age, nor could it ever form one given the short lifespan of its finish. Instead, the plan is defined by an abundance of closed cell-like rooms that force a kind of hermetic life in its interior. To make it feel more spacious, and to connect better with the property it sits on, we removes the interior walls, creating two floors of open space. The structure however could not be changed easily and so it remains in place, becoming a defining element within the home. New furniture weaves around the remaining structure, creating a series of rooms that can be open or closed, shared and combined as needed.
On the exterior the house is exaggerated, becoming a drawing of itself in black and white, with a concrete ramp and a dais for plants added to ease access and use..