Location: Tokyo
Category: Residential

I have started to consider how multi-residential housing in the city should be after the 2011 Tohoku Earthquake and Tsunami. Through my earthquake experience in Tokyo, I learned that it is important to have good communication between residents in the case of emergency and architecture plays a role in creating such environments.
The site sits in a quiet residential area, away from the bustle of the station and the shopping street. In planning, we considered from various perspectives including “creating a shared space that allows diversity of living together”, “connecting individual unit gently through a shared space” and “analysing sky view factor to acquire maximum buildable volume”
The central staircase represents the characteristic of this multi-residential housing. The design enables the residents to understand what kind of people live next door through everyday life. The semi-outdoor space, called “living terrace”, in each unit invites residents to use it as they wish, for example use it for planting and drying clothes. As a result, the residents walking along the corridor can catch a glimpse of how their neighbours live. Designing this “device” in which the private spaces are extended to the public area, the residents become conscious of living in multi-residential housing as a community.