Roof House by Tezuka Architects

The conventional idea of a house being an enclosure of four walls and a roof was challenged by Tezuka Architects in their Roof House project. The proposal came from the clients who used to eat on the roof of their old house. Made out of wood, a prominent characteristic of Japanese architecture, the Roof House breaks the roof “boundary” by giving each room a skylight and roof access. The 10:1 pitched roof allows for live-able and communal interaction. Aside from being a place to interact, the roof also has a shower, dinning table and a kitchen.

The interior has a predominant living room in which every room in the house is adjacent to it. There are no swinging doors, but a series of pocket doors keep the rectilinear rhythm of the shape and walls of the house

.

Following traditional practices of Japanese architecture, the roof is always one of the most important components of the design, and in this project it is the most important feature. Sitting on the top of a hill the roof pitch hints you at the slope of the topography making an important connection to the land, another characteristic of the Japanese style. The Japanese were very conscious of merging outside spaces with inside spaces, a call to the relationship between nature and man. The roof is a symbol of the land, nature, and when the residents engage with the roof it tells a story of mans story dwelling on the earth.