Text description provided by the architects. Located in Tama, on the border of Kanagawa and Tokyo, this house sits on the southern slope of a hill, surrounded by rolling terrain. The serene atmosphere of the Buddhist cemetery on the northern slope extends across the ridge, blending into the quiet residential streets to the south. Despite being in a dense neighborhood, the corner site benefits from ample sunlight and a sense of clarity.
The house is divided into two levels: a ground floor and a partially submerged basement. The basement contains washrooms, two bedrooms, and a garage. The bedrooms and washrooms are enclosed within a concrete box, while the garage opens fully to the street. This concrete core sits at the center of the site and supports the upper floor slab alongside the natural slope.
On the ground floor, four freestanding concrete walls with tapered profiles resemble large monoliths placed on a platform. These walls create a sense of heaviness and mystery while establishing a continuous spatial flow, dissolving the boundary between the site and the street. Entering the house from the highest point at the northeast corner feels like stepping onto a suspended platform, detached from the terrain. The walls fragment the exterior view, transforming the streetscape into an abstract geometric composition.
A wooden flat roof rests on the northern walls, forming both the interior space and a terrace-like area. The living room and kitchen are sunken 40 cm below platform level, with darkened wood flooring reinforcing the sense of depth. This sunken area resembles a ceremonial altar where daily life unfolds in privacy. A staircase in the southwest corner leads to the basement, where the bedrooms, shielded from the street, offer a tranquil, cocoon-like atmosphere with only skylights connecting to the sky.
The living space opens to a luminous and abstract world, in which two skylights and the monolithic walls are all special objects. One skylight overlooks the garage below, while the other connects to the most private space, bathing it in sunlight and moonlight.
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Cite: “House in Tama / Cheng Hao Chung Architect” 29 Mar 2025. ArchDaily. Accessed .
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