Project: Miyazaki House
Architects: Suzuko Yamada Architects
Location: Japan
Area: 1,108 sf
Year: 2022
Photographs by: Rumi Ando
Miyazaki House by Suzuko Yamada Architects
Miyazaki House, designed by Suzuko Yamada Architects in Japan, is a unique dwelling nestled on a triangular site at the edge of a lush park. The one-story building seamlessly integrates with the park, as the rooftop transforms into a garden that extends the greenery. Inside, the spacious studio features an unconventional arrangement where furniture, household items, and architectural elements coexist independently, creating a sense of individuality and harmony. The pillars and staircases, each with their own color and shape, serve as landmarks and facilitate the residents’ daily lives. As the family interacts with these scattered elements, a vibrant tapestry of colors and shapes emerges, creating a truly distinctive and personalized home.
A park with abundant greenery stretches on a hill facing south overlooking the city. The house for a family of four stands on a triangular site cropped off at the edge of the park. The main volume is a one-story building with limited height, which allows for the park ground to continue onto the roof of the house as a garden.
In the large studio, furniture, and household items like chairs, desks, shelves, and curtains, along with fixtures like stairs, columns, partitions, doors, and walls, all stand in their designated spots independently from each other. Benches, lampposts, tall trees, and shrubs scattered throughout the park are also visible through the windows. The seemingly random arrangement of the pillars aligns with the four corners of the children’s room, which will be built on the rooftop in the future. Two of the three staircases lead up to the children’s future hut, which now serves as a little hideout under the roof window.
Each piece of furniture and household item has its individuality. Likewise, each pillar and staircase have its color and shape, as if it has a will of its own. Rather than “existing,” one might say that they are “being.” Instead of laying out a framework that determines the lifestyle, we create architecture as a collection of landmarks that serve as a base for the residents’ lives.
The colors and shapes that stand out from each other are blended through daily life. Each family member lives with the help of the scattered landmarks, linking them together. As one walks, stops, and leans against them, a wave of colors and shapes arises, and their respective home emerges.
