巣材の家
House of nesting material
2023~ 進行中
本計画は、鳥が巣をつくるように、近くで入手できる素材や部品を集めて住まいをつくり、繕いながら暮らすための提案である。
敷地は自然豊かな埼玉県小川町であり、築約80年の平屋の古家を増改築する。敷地の周辺で入手できるのは古家から出る材や、自然素材であり、これらを主な「巣材」として扱っていく。巣材は、形状・寸法がバラバラであるため扱いにくさがある。また、近年の一般的な建築材料のもつ安定した品質や高い性能とはかけ離れた、いわば「弱さ」をもっている。ところがこの「弱さ」をそのままに、すなわち原料を高度に加工・変容させずに用いれば、使用後に地球に爪痕を残さなくて済む。
本計画では、弱い材を弱いままで使い、バラバラを受け入れる使い方を提案する。例えば外周壁は、バラバラな木材の板張りを内装仕上げに、植物材料を麻袋に詰めた断熱ユニットを外部に表出させている。最も弱い材を表出させることで、傷み具合の把握と手入れを容易にしている。この弱い材を守るために大屋根をかけ、そこにできる軒下の半屋外空間は、外部環境とゆるやかに繋がる豊かな暮らしの空間となり、巣材を繕うための空間となるような平面構成とした。
設計・施工を行う住人は、建築構法・材料の研究者であり、日本各地の土着の泥小屋を訪ね歩いている。近くで採れた素材を使って素人施工でつくられたこれらの小屋は、ゆがみや亀裂も許され、素材が弱くても100年単位の時を刻んでいる。効率や品質・性能重視の現代の建築が忘れていたこうした小屋のあり方を、自らの住まいで実験する。
This project is a proposal for building and repairing a dwelling by collecting materials and parts available nearby, just as birds build nests.
The site is located in Ogawa-machi, Saitama Prefecture, a town rich in nature, where an 80-year-old one-storey old house is to be extended and reconstructed. The materials available in the area around the site are wood from the old house and natural materials, which will be used as the main 'nesting materials'. Nesting materials are difficult to handle because of their varied shapes and sizes. They also have a 'weakness', so to speak, that is far different from the stable quality and high performance of recent general construction materials. However, if this 'weakness' is left as it is, i.e. the raw material is not highly processed or transformed, it will not leave a mark on the earth after use.
This project proposes to use weak materials as they are, and to use them in a way that accepts their dismemberment. For example, the exterior walls are made of pieces of timber planks for the interior finish, while insulation units made of plant material packed in jute bags are exposed to the outside. By exposing the weakest material, it is easier to identify damage and care for it. To protect the weakest material, a large roof is applied, and the semi-outdoor space under the roof's eaves is designed to provide a wealthy living space that is softly connected to the external environment, and a space for repairing the nesting material.
The resident who designed and constructed the house is a researcher of building construction methods and materials, and visits indigenous mud huts in various areas of Japan. These huts, built by amateur construction using materials from nearby areas, are allowed to warp and crack, and even though the materials are weak, they have stood the mark of time by the hundredth of a year. The project experiments with these huts, which have been forgotten by modern architecture, which focuses on efficiency, quality and performance, in their own homes.
*写真はすべて池田太朗さん撮影