Dezeen Magazine

Curving walls eclipse glazed facade of park-side house in Japan by Tsuyoshi Kawata

Both curving and straight walls overlap inside this family home in Shiga Prefecture by architect Tsuyoshi Kawata, which was designed to frame views of a nearby park (+ slideshow).

Park and House by Tsuyoshi Kawata

Named Park and House, the home was designed by Tsuyoshi Kawata of Osaka architecture studio Tonoma for a residential street near Lake Biwa in Shiga Prefecture.

Park and House by Tsuyoshi Kawata

The building sits in the middle of a row of traditional houses with tiled pitched roofs, which border a leafy park. A gap in the park's boundary hedge makes way for a snaking path that leads to the edge of the property.

Park and House by Tsuyoshi Kawata

The white walls and rooftops, and the wooden floors all features curved elements, intended to introduce organic shapes into the architecture, but also to create a strong visual connection with the local greenery.

Park and House by Tsuyoshi Kawata

"This house, considering the continuity of the residential area and the park, plays a role of a node that has the attributes of both," said Kawata. "It's an architecture that is as if the house and the park are fused."

Park and House by Tsuyoshi Kawata

Inside, the rounded planes of the walls and floor slabs join to appear as if the home is made up of bent circles. The curvature of the walls frames crescent-shaped apertures, offering glimpses out to the park.

Park and House by Tsuyoshi Kawata

The building has a timber frame, with several exposed wooden beams and columns that resonate with the structures of its more traditional neighbours.

Park and House by Tsuyoshi Kawata

Inside, the house is arranged over two floors with a combined living and dining area, and a master bedroom at ground level, and a playroom and study set on the smaller upper level.

Park and House by Tsuyoshi Kawata

A single-storey quadrant containing the bedroom sits at the front of the site, while a two-storey rectilinear volume runs along the back of of the plot to create the living spaces.

Park and House by Tsuyoshi Kawata

Glass walls front this volume, but a curving wall and floor visually link it with the segmental shape of the spaces below.

Park and House by Tsuyoshi Kawata

The corner of the playroom and study sits astride the two ground-floor areas. The floor slab rounds away from the corner, leaving a gap alongside the rounded roof of the bedroom.

Park and House by Tsuyoshi Kawata

Timber-framed windows look out onto a roof garden on top of the ground-floor bedroom. On the other side of the floor, a small decked terrace is accessible from the study.

Park and House by Tsuyoshi Kawata
Structural diagram – click for larger image
Park and House by Tsuyoshi Kawata
Site plan – click for larger image
Park and House by Tsuyoshi Kawata
Floor plan – click for larger image
Park and House by Tsuyoshi Kawata
Section – click for larger image