House of Quartz is an architecture imagined as a crystallization of all living energies. It shines, reflects, and magnifies everyday phenomena to channel and amplify their vibrant frequencies. It is solid and porous and acts as a skeletal base for all forms of life. The spaces are conceived as anti-gravitational to be free of modern typologies. The building is a low-tech architecture and a mixed-use building with different unit configurations, but essentially does not distinguish between life/work/play. The windows rotate 360 degrees, conceived as a lens to view the surroundings and to reflect and observe our inner being.
La Casa de Cuarzo es una arquitectura imaginada como una cristalización de todas las energías vivas. Brilla, refleja y magnifica los fenómenos cotidianos para canalizar y amplificar sus frecuencias vibrantes. Es sólido y poroso y actúa como base esquelética de todas las formas de vida. Los espacios se conciben como antigravitatorios para liberarse de las tipologías modernas. Se trata de una arquitectura de baja tecnología y un edificio de uso mixto con diferentes configuraciones de unidades, pero que esencialmente no distingue entre vida/trabajo/juego. Las ventanas giran 360 grados, concebidas como una lente para ver el entorno y para reflejar y observar nuestro ser interior.
Prosaic building typology and zoning could disembody the essence of our daily life in the city. During the COVID, our urban life was severely restricted; we had to work from home and could not eat in restaurants; the function of urban space and the intended use of a building were compromised. Is there a need today for architecture in the city with clear boundaries between different uses and functions? The distinction between residential and commercial presupposes that people have sufficient economic means to afford to live in a proper residential area and work elsewhere. In contrast, Tokyo’s downtown commercial or industrial areas serve no purpose for many who do not consume or work there. Such a suffocating eventuality of urbanity leads even ordinary people to believe that it is necessary to fundamentally rethink lifestyles, ways of working, and how we live together in the city. It is possible to fundamentally rethink the “creation of liveable cities,” as defined in SDG #11, through a redefinition of architecture that is not only postulated by its function but can remain neutral. It seeks to create an open and airy building for the city, allowing users to redefine their daily activities with malleable and porous architecture.
La tipología prosaica de los edificios y la zonificación podrían desencarnar la esencia de nuestra vida cotidiana en la ciudad. Durante la COVID, nuestra vida urbana estaba muy restringida; teníamos que trabajar desde casa y no podíamos comer en restaurantes; la función del espacio urbano y el uso previsto de un edificio estaban comprometidos. ¿Se necesita hoy una arquitectura en la ciudad con límites claros entre los distintos usos y funciones? La distinción entre residencial y comercial presupone que la gente tiene medios económicos suficientes para permitirse vivir en una zona residencial adecuada y trabajar en otro lugar. En cambio, las zonas comerciales o industriales del centro de Tokio no sirven para nada a muchas personas que no consumen ni trabajan en ellas. Esta asfixiante eventualidad de la urbanidad lleva incluso a la gente corriente a creer que es necesario replantearse fundamentalmente los estilos de vida, las formas de trabajar y la forma de convivir en la ciudad. Es posible replantearse fundamentalmente la “creación de ciudades habitables”, tal como se define en el ODS nº 11, mediante una redefinición de la arquitectura que no sólo se postula por su función, sino que puede permanecer neutral. Pretende crear un edificio abierto y aireado para la ciudad, que permita a los usuarios redefinir sus actividades cotidianas con una arquitectura maleable y porosa.
The interior consists of a two-story row house, a three-story row house, and units of different sizes on the first, second, and third floors, with floor plans that can be internally connected and disconnected to meet the diverse needs of users. With an exposed mechanical system, it is easy to maintain and replace equipment for more efficient energy use over time. The exterior of the building looks like a stack of boxes, but unlike this brutal image, the building was designed to create a frame and channel for human and climatic elements to interact and flow through over time. As a result, the building emancipates ephemeral experiences as sunlight, rainwater, and wind flow through it. A notable feature of the building is its windows, which can rotate 360 degrees, increasing its porosity to its surroundings and making it more open to the city. In this way, the building seeks to defy its interiority. It is designed to boldly embrace the ambiguity of functionality and celebrate temporal elements typically considered taboo in contemporary Japanese industry. The building has also been set back to create a dynamic facade that creates unexpected encounters with its surroundings.
El interior consta de una casa adosada de dos plantas, una casa adosada de tres plantas y unidades de distintos tamaños en las plantas primera, segunda y tercera, con planos de planta que pueden conectarse y desconectarse internamente para satisfacer las diversas necesidades de los usuarios. Con un sistema mecánico expuesto, es fácil mantener y sustituir los equipos para un uso más eficiente de la energía a lo largo del tiempo. El exterior del edificio parece una pila de cajas, pero a diferencia de esta imagen brutal, el edificio se diseñó para crear un marco y un canal por el que los elementos humanos y climáticos interactuaran y fluyeran a lo largo del tiempo. Como resultado, el edificio emancipa experiencias efímeras a medida que la luz del sol, el agua de lluvia y el viento fluyen a través de él. Una característica notable del edificio son sus ventanas, que pueden girar 360 grados, aumentando su porosidad con el entorno y haciéndolo más abierto a la ciudad. De este modo, el edificio pretende desafiar su interioridad. Está diseñado para abrazar con audacia la ambigüedad de la funcionalidad y celebrar los elementos temporales típicamente considerados tabú en la industria japonesa contemporánea. El edificio también se ha retranqueado para crear una fachada dinámica que genere encuentros inesperados con su entorno.
Text by Archisan. Translation by Hidden Architecture
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Archisan is an architectural design studio based in Nakameguro, Tokyo, with a focus on art, architecture, and curatorial projects, founded in 2012.
Archisan believes that architects and architecture have enormous untapped potential that can be revealed through a simple exploration of design.
Archisan collaborates with stakeholders and leading specialists in various fields to bring innovation in social, environmental, and spiritual design.
Tomohisa MIYAUCHI, a registered architect in Japan and the United States, fulfills his role as a professor at Kyoto Arts and Crafts University by conducting design studios and lectures. As an architect, curator, and educator, Tomohisa’s academic and professional endeavors span a wide range of interests, including the integration of architectural practice with entrepreneurship and experimentation, engagement with contemporary architectural theory, and the role of curation in architecture. He received his Bachelor of Architecture degree with distinction from the Southern California Institute of Architecture (SCI-Arc) in 2000 and his Master of Architecture degree from the Graduate School of Design (GSD) at Harvard University in 2004.
After graduating from SCI-Arc, Tomohisa co-founded the architecture firm ISSHO in Tokyo, where he led projects that spanned the fields of art, space, and architecture in Tokyo and Shanghai. His innovative design contributions were recognized in 2010 when he was selected by the Japanese Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) as one of 20 emerging designers in “JAPAN DESIGN+”. In addition to his creative architectural practice, Tomohisa has contributed extensively to the architectural community for over a decade as a senior editor for Architecture and Urbanism (A+U), where he deepened his insights into architecture by visiting significant buildings and interviewing architects around the world. This combination of practice, curation, and teaching has given him a broad and nuanced perspective on architecture, enabling him to mentor students and effectively bridge diverse architectural practices and cultures. In addition, Tomohisa has made a significant contribution to the international architectural discourse by curating the Singapore Pavilion at the 15th, 16th, and 17th International Architecture Exhibition, La Biennale di Venezia, in 2016, 2018, and 2020-2021, demonstrating his extensive engagement and leadership in the global architectural community.