Dezeen Magazine

House in Tajiri by Kazunori Fujimoto is a raw concrete home facing out to sea

Japanese architect Kazunori Fujimoto used the golden ratio to generate the proportions of this raw concrete house on the seafront of Fukuyama, Japan (+ slideshow).

House in Tajiri by Kazunori Fujimoto

Named House in Tajiri, the 98-square-metre property is made up of two overlapping volumes that are both square-shaped in plan – one single-storey and one two-storey.

The building replaces a simple old farmhouse, so Kazunori Fujimoto based his new design on the original geometry.

House in Tajiri by Kazunori Fujimoto

"Before rebuilding, there was the most common farmhouse that had four squarely arranged rooms," said Fujimoto, whose past projects include a concrete house with a walled courtyard and another resembling a half-submerged submarine.

House in Tajiri by Kazunori Fujimoto

"The principal objective of the design was to develop a concrete house from the traditional farmhouse form."

House in Tajiri by Kazunori Fujimoto

The architect arranged the two built volumes in a way that allowed load-bearing external walls to continue through the interior as partitions between rooms.

House in Tajiri by Kazunori Fujimoto

Storage is built into the walls, lining up with the base of windows that extend around all four sides of the house.

House in Tajiri by Kazunori Fujimoto

"The charm of the old farmhouse is a simplicity, a layout of rooms regarded as a structure together, and the components such as eaves and windows controlling the house's environment," said the architect.

House in Tajiri by Kazunori Fujimoto

"Because I was going to replace this characteristic with concrete, I thought about a bearing-wall structure that can be open to all directions," he added.

Externally, the concrete wall surfaces are recessed back from the frame to give the building a skeletal appearance.

House in Tajiri by Kazunori Fujimoto

The entrance is positioned on the northern facade and leads into a long narrow hallway with a staircase winding up through its centre.

A large room to the left accommodates living, dining and kitchen spaces. The bathroom and WC are tucked away at the back, alongside a pair of smaller rooms. Bedrooms can be found upstairs.

House in Tajiri by Kazunori Fujimoto

Residents can also climb out onto the roof of the single-storey volume, which forms a terrace with views out across the Seto Inland Sea.

Photography is by the architect.

House in Tajiri by Kazunori Fujimoto
Isometric diagram
House in Tajiri by Kazunori Fujimoto
Ground floor plan
House in Tajiri by Kazunori Fujimoto
First floor plan