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House in Saijo by Suppose Design Office
Here's the latest in our series of stories about projects by Japanese architects Suppose Design Office: a residence in Saijo, Hiroshima, Japan, based on traditional pit-dwelling houses.
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Earth excavated from the site was used to build a wall around the house, creating a room below ground level surrounded by glass but shielded from its neighbours.
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Th pyramid-shaped upper storey rises above the glazed level, filled with light from a skylight in the top.
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More about Suppose Design Office in our previous stories:
House in Jigozen
House in Sakuragawa
House in Kamakura
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The following text is from the architects:
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Modern Pit Dwelling
House in Saijo
When I always create, I think that I want to find the charm of the that plan. A client is a couple with three children hoped there are bright openhearted space, and keeping the privacy.
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This site is a field before, and bearing stratum is in the minus one meter from the ground side.
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Therefore, we thought support according to the composition of not the ground improvement, but a half underground from the beginning of the plan.
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The leftover soil by excavating the ground was used to make the hill, enabling the function of the garden on the exterior and guarding their privacy from the house's neighborhood.
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The upper floors than a half underground are composed by only the pyramid-shaped roof.
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The lighting was taken in the skylight.
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The bright, open-hearted space of a underground and first floor of feeling the calm, and the second floor with which light is filled while closing.
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Each floor was connected by the hole made for the center of the floor, and they were able to materialize to become the various property.
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