Ephemeral House

EPHEMERAL HOUSE

NAAD

Ephemeral House
© Keishiro Yamada

ARCHITECTS
Naad

PHOTOGRAPHS
Keishiro Yamada

AREA
60 m²

YEAR
2014

LOCATION
Kyoto, Japan

CATEGORY
Houses, Renovation

Ephemeral House
© Keishiro Yamada

Text description provided by architects.

Ephemeral House is a renovation project of a 100-year-old wooden building located in the center of Kyoto, Japan.

The client, who is in his twenties and lives alone, asked for a temporary dwelling.

Ephemeral House
© Keishiro Yamada
Ephemeral House
© Keishiro Yamada

Our intent in this project is not only to generate an appropriate atmosphere for a living but also to avoid hierarchical dichotomy between past and present, through that creating a space that has a rich sense of transience and festivity.

The same plywood material is applied on every existing surface of the living space except for part of the existing columns and hanging partition walls.

Ephemeral House
© Keishiro Yamada
Ephemeral House
© Keishiro Yamada

Space, whose floor, walls, and ceiling are united by the same material, provides the user an intimate atmosphere and an impressive sense of permanence like a cave, while it evokes a sense that the existing columns and hanging partition walls are added later.

Here, the chronological order of the building elements, new and existing, is conceptually reversed.

Ephemeral House
© Keishiro Yamada
Ephemeral House
© Keishiro Yamada

However, in detail, the surface of the wood constituting the floor, walls, and ceiling is coarse and the studs are exposed in the backside of the wall, which gives the impression that space is under construction or in the process of dismantling.

Space, which at first is perceived as secure and permanent, actually seems to be fragile and has intricate time axes.

Ephemeral House
© Keishiro Yamada
Ephemeral House
© Keishiro Yamada

What emerges here is a singular here-and-now space for living.


Ephemeral House
© Keishiro Yamada
Ephemeral House
© Keishiro Yamada
Ephemeral House
© Keishiro Yamada
Ephemeral House
© Keishiro Yamada
Ephemeral House
© Keishiro Yamada
Ephemeral House
© Keishiro Yamada


Ephemeral House
© Keishiro Yamada
Ephemeral House
© Keishiro Yamada
Ephemeral House
© Keishiro Yamada
Ephemeral House
© Keishiro Yamada
Ephemeral House
© Keishiro Yamada
Ephemeral House
© Keishiro Yamada


Ephemeral House
© Keishiro Yamada
Ephemeral House
© Keishiro Yamada
Ephemeral House
© Keishiro Yamada
Ephemeral House
© Keishiro Yamada
Ephemeral House
© Keishiro Yamada
Ephemeral House
© Keishiro Yamada


Ephemeral House
Floor Plan
Ephemeral House
Floor Plan
Ephemeral House
Site Plan