Architecture and adaptation go hand in hand - many of the types and
styles of buildings created in the past will not translate into our
current design discourse. Only when architects acknowledges the
world around us is changing, becoming more complex, can they
successfully create functional space.
Japan's NKS architects design
buildings that re-frame space - adapt to changes in their
surroundings. The small wooden Onigiri House in the countryside
of southern Japan was built for an older couple in attempt to keep
costs down while maximizing space.
The house's main structure forms a triangular tube-shape and is made
from thick cedar boards, traditionally used for ship scaffolding.
Windows are spaced along the top where the boards lean together as well
as in intervals along the base of the house. Additional glass
doors within a glass frame fill the end of the tube. An obvious
connection to nature is essential to most Japanese architects - and
here the placement of windows and doors allows light and wind to
penetrate the entire space. By Andrew J Wiener