Yutenji Apartment
YUTENJI APARTMENT
Ishii Inoue Architects
YEAR
2010
LOCATION
Yutenji, Meguro, Japan
TYPE
Residential › Apartment
Yutenji Apartments is in a dense residential area of Tokyo. L shaped site is surrounded by small houses except the tip of the L. Yutenji Apartments had a task to use maximum volume and floor permitted as an apartment complex for rent.
The inside of L is a passage on the premises. The rest is the volume of the building. The walls facing to the passage is painted in gloss white up to 2nd floor to concert with 2 storied neighborhoods; a comfortable aggregate of small houses.
The passage needed some abstract atmosphere to wipe away shabby feeling out of the density of 6 dwelling units in a small site, 165sq.meters.
Thus the white walls were designed in individualistic way to give an abstract air, such as expansion joints that were placed irregularly, window frames with non-rectangular shapes, 6 entrance doors in different designs chosen out of descent needs.
In addition artistic pattern were marked on the passage surface with ditch covers. At the end the passage could have some open and light feeling as if an open space of a gallery or a small library.
Pine wood was chosen for the border fence. Wood is rare material for exterior in Tokyo, a dense city, in terms of regulations against fire.
By limiting the using part to the fence wood was applicable. This rare material in the city became a charm of Yutenji Apartments.
Moreover the interior wooden boxes with plywood which are bathrooms and the wooden fences of the passage visually connect interior and exterior.
Interior is structured with two different finishes; exposed concrete and white wallpaper over insulation.
The walls and slabs exposed to outside need insulations and are finished with wallpaper, and the others are not.
This simple rule gives individual expression to each interior
space.
