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Architects: Naruse Inokuma Architects
- Area: 81 m²
- Year: 2023
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Photographs:Masao Nishikawa
Text description provided by the architects. This is the first of a series of ready-built holiday villas for sale, planned by Naruse Inokuma Architects with Kyukaruizawa Club, an organization that manages an area of holiday homes in Karuizawa.
The most important element in this design was the feelings evoked by this rich environment, surrounded by a natural forest and its different expressions that change with the seasons, weather, and time. The idea of “feeling nature,” however, involves visual information and various other factors like sound and light. At the same time, nature could be felt differently based on whether one feels the vastness of the entire forest or if they feel the detailed textures of the branches and leaves. The emotions aroused may also differ based on whether one is inside or outside a building.
We thus designed this villa to be connected in the middle, with separate spaces near the windows. The windows, doors, and openings were then decided to define these spaces, how time could be spent in them, and their relationship to the outside environment. Window openings in the atrium connect the dining space and the forest in front of it, so you feel like the forest surrounds you.
On the second floor, a small, quiet lounge is connected horizontally to the expansive forest through two windows and a balcony, creating a treehouse feel. The entrance and the high-rising tree canopies are connected by a high atrium and clerestory windows, making you feel like you are entering the forest.
This piece of architecture, which can be considered an assemblage of loosely connected environments, allows for the entry of various outside environments. At the same time, life happens within it, and these experiences continue to stack up. It affords an even richer natural experience because of the life that unfolds within it.
