B House Diagram

The Japanese house I analyzed was the B House. This very simplistic building easily lent itself to a diagram in a book. There were three main ideas that I focused on when cutting my book: the broad roof that included a small angled portion, the expansive windows, and the separation of space within the house. These three ideas are the most dominant in the design of the house. They also are the moves that best demonstrated Japanese architectural ideals. Thus, these were the ideas I translated into my diagram.

Most of the roof of the B House is broad and flat. It has eaves on one side that extend far past the main area of the house. This creates a transition space, or ma, between the indoors and outdoors, and suggests the house is reaching out to nature. I diagramed this concept by utilizing the book’s cover as the roof and the floor, sandwiching the space in between, the cover hanging out long past the pages that mark interior space. A small section of the cover is angled up to mark the section of roof that is angled for solar panels. The house’s interior space is highly influenced by the expansive windows on one side that highlight the view and let in natural light. In my diagram, the windows mark the important interior spaces and deep cuts illustrate where the windows existed along that wall and show the spaces behind the windows. These spaces were cut differently depending on purpose. The public spaces were cut so that the “floor” of the book was raised, while the private spaces were marked by a lowered “ceiling”. Spaces that are less dominant were marked by a lower ceiling or a higher floor. Overall, the book clearly illustrates the design of the house.