Kuma&Elsa Reinvents Japanese Apartments with Traditional Engawa Concepts
In an innovative architectural endeavor, Kuma&Elsa has undertaken a remarkable renovation of the top two floors of an apartment complex in Fukuoka, Japan. This project artfully blends contemporary high-rise living with the cherished spatial characteristics of traditional Japanese homes. By introducing a 'house-in-a-house' concept, the design team successfully reimagined the living spaces, incorporating central 'huts' on each floor to evoke the feeling of an engawa, a traditional Japanese veranda. This distinctive approach not only fulfills the client's desire to recapture the essence of her childhood home but also establishes a fluid and continuous environment throughout the apartments, demonstrating a harmonious fusion of old and new.
Kuma&Elsa Transforms High-Rise with 'House-in-a-House' Concept in Fukuoka
In a groundbreaking architectural feat, the Kuma&Elsa studio recently unveiled the reimagined upper two levels of an apartment building nestled in Japan's Fukuoka prefecture. The visionary project, dubbed Nakano House, was born from a client's heartfelt wish to recreate the nostalgic ambiance of her traditional childhood dwelling, elevated 15 meters above ground within a modern concrete structure. Shohei Kuma and Elsa Escobedo, the creative minds behind the studio, ingeniously addressed this aspiration by inserting a central 'hut' on each floor. This innovative 'house-in-a-house' design carves out a perimeter space that gracefully opens onto balconies, effectively replicating the serene spatial quality of a traditional Japanese engawa.
The two distinct apartments, one for the client on the sixth floor and another for her son's family on the seventh, both feature these pivotal central volumes. Kuma and Escobedo explained that these 'huts' are not merely static elements; their boundaries are fluid, allowing for extension and connection between various areas, thus forming a continuous and adaptable living environment. Constructed with simple steel frames anchored to the concrete floor plates and braced by steel cables to the ceiling, these structures are both robust and aesthetically light. Translucent sliding screens, framed in timber, allow the bedrooms and living areas within the huts to seamlessly merge with the surrounding spaces, which house the bathrooms, kitchen, and dining areas. The wooden flooring within the huts extends outward, forming a distinct timber engawa-like perimeter with a unique zigzagging edge where it meets the concrete floor. Timber shutters and curtains offer privacy and light control for the windows, which feature sliding glass doors leading to southern-facing balconies. The fire-resistant plasterboard roofs of the huts, along with the roughly plastered bathroom walls, are intentionally left unfinished. This deliberate 'incompleteness,' as the architects describe it, emerged from conversations with the client and her family, aiming to introduce a temporal dimension to the new apartment, allowing it to acquire character and evolve over time, much like an older building would.
This renovation by Kuma&Elsa stands as a testament to thoughtful design that respects cultural heritage while embracing contemporary living. The project's emphasis on creating a fluid, adaptable environment that blurs the lines between indoor and outdoor spaces, and its appreciation for the natural aging of materials, offers a refreshing perspective on modern residential architecture. It inspires us to consider how traditional architectural elements can be reinterpreted to enrich our built environment, fostering a deeper connection to place and memory, even within the confines of urban density. The "incompleteness" of certain finishes challenges the notion of immediate perfection, instead inviting a dynamic process of living and evolving with the space, imbuing it with a unique and personal narrative over time.