Social Background

The modern architecture movement, which started in the early 1900s, utilized new mass produced materials such as steel, glass and concrete. Given this as a technological base, and using the same materials, buildings with a unified vocabulary were reproduced all over the world.

This method was a success in supplying inexpensive functional houses to the rapidly growing population in the urban areas. However it resulted in a loss of the uniqueness in the locality and of the individuality of places. This was disaster in terms of architecture trying to use region‐specific materials or architecture that is specific to the climate of the region.

In addition, an enormous amount of energy has been used/required to produce iron/steel, glass and concrete. It is time that we as architects consider the drastic change to the mechanism of producing architectural buildings.  The global awareness of the limited resources on earth, improvements to the environment and various attempts across different sectors are required.

Why earth?

Soil came into being 4 billion years ago. It was generated through a combination of dead organisms and grains of minerals. Soil has been, and will continue to be a cradle of life.

Since the birth of mankind, humans have been creating their dwellings with their hand using the materials at hand. They would sometimes use wood, and stones on other occasions depending on availability.

When it comes to the soil, the material is available everywhere in the world, and there is no concern of depletion.

This is the reason we decided to develop a new architectural component using basically soil only, by adding scarce amounts of natural additives.

We started our researches in three directions.  To formulate a new architectural model of “soil + natural additives” which can be 100% recycled, to develop new architectural technologies that can be easily applied in scenes of natural disasters in and out of Japan, and to improve the specification of existing buildings using soil.

Yasuhiro Yamashita x Atelier TEKUTO

This is the first earth structure house to be built in Japan.

With the most generous support and understanding of our client, we were able to work in collaboration with universities and professionals from related fields to do numerous workshops and experiments in order to develop an earth brick masonry system using mud from the earth and other natural ingredients.
The “earth bricks” are 400mmx250mmx100mm in size and each one hand made, using molds, manual tools, earth and natural hardening ingredients (magnesium oxide etc.).
A total of about 2500 bricks were hand laid to complete the structure.

The plan is in the shape of a ‘comma-shaped bead’ or a traditional decorative bead that is was used as a lucky charm in the stone ages. Glass bricks topped the masonry walls in order to create a band of light just under the roof that would let in a softened natural light inside.
The partition walls and the upper floor are made of LVL panels. The ground floor was finished with polished terrazzo. Two skylights let natural light inside, illuminating the space enclosed by the earthen walls.

Tomioka City has many valuable assets. Historically it is a home of the registered world heritage of Tomioka Silk Mill, the oldest modern model silk reeling industry established in 1927. It also has the beautiful nature surrounded by the grandeur of wild mountains such as Mount Myogi.
We intend to design the station not only for the sake of railway but also as a “network station” to promote such regional assets such as nature, culture, history and business.

Our proposal is developed from the following three concepts:
(1)   Green tourism:Green tourism actively promotes sight seeing business by incorporating nature, culture, and people of the regional agricultural and fishing areas. We hope to establish a non-profit organization to construct a network system for the green tourism, with an intention to generate a new business for the city. We hope to design the future of the city as well as the station itself in collaboration with the citizens.
(2)Development of a new structure using regional building materials: We hope to utilize regional materials in the building as much as possible for sustainability. The exterior finish is earth bricks made of regional earth, which is easily available and also very cheap. Timber (Japanese cedar) from thinning is used as the interior finish. Structurally it is composed of steel structure and masonry structure.
(3) Double-skin wall system made of bricks and thinning timber
Double skin walls are composed of exterior walls composed of brick and interior walls composed of thinning timber. Glass boxes of various sizes and proportions are inserted into the walls randomly to let natural light inside the building. Natural ventilation system is enclosed within the double skin walls to control overall air circulation of the building.
We are planning brick-making workshops so that citizens are going to make bricks by their own hands. We hope that the station is also going to be made and be raised by the supporting hands of the citizens. History and traditional construction methods of Tomioka are going to be incorporated in our design.

Social Background

Today, the numbers of abandoned vacant houses are increasing all over Japan, causing major social concern. Unoccupied houses deteriorate rapidly and degrade the image and value of the area. It is also crucial for crime and disaster prevention, since abandoned houses can induce criminal activity more often than well-kept properties, and collapse in case of an earthquake and block evacuation routes.

Yamashita gave seminars on traditional houses in Keio University starting from 2005 and since then, Tekuto has sought for ways to utilize those houses as regional resources, which would otherwise become unfavorable legacies if not taken care of.

Tekuto Renovation Project

Ethiopia Millennium Pavillion (2009)

To commemorate the Ethiopian Millennium, the Embassy of Japan in Ethiopia asked us to create a pavilion that symbolizes our cultural exchanges. We started our design by focusing on both country’s traditional houses.

Ethiopian circular houses are consisted of simple stone walls and wooden roofs with tied joints. Traditional Japanese houses were built meticulously with wood, without using metal parts. We brought over an old Japanese house to Ethiopia and reassembled it side by side with an Ethiopian house. By reconstructing our traditional values, we believe the two cultures were able to come face to face at this pavilion.

Tekuto Renovation Project (Japan)

YA-CHI-YO (2009)

Meanwhile in Japan, TEKUTO began working on traditional residential buildings. In Shimane Prefecture, we dismantled the main structure of two traditional storehouses dating back to the Taisho Era (1912-26), that were about to be demolished. The parts were then brought to Hayama, in Kanagawa Prefecture, and reassembled on site. Wooden boards salvaged from the storehouses and 80-year-old bricks from Shanghai were reused for doors, window frames, and floors. Various materials from other regions, even from another country, old and new, were brought together and restructured in this new building.
By reconstructing an old house, the texture and the mood of traditional Japanese houses were revived in this modern house. An unprecedented sense of time and space came to birth.

In 2011 the Great Tohoku earthquake and resultant tsunami caused vast areas of farmland to be damaged by sea water. One such heavily damaged area was Minami Sanriku. After the disaster we met the residents who informed us about the salt damaged earth which had become unfarmable.

Since Atelier Tekuto had unique experience in construction techniques dealing with earth as a building material they turned to us for help. Their request was for us to design and build an emergency supply warehouse using the salt damaged earth. Using our experience and additional research we invented a new construction method utilizing the Minami Sanriku earth.

During the construction process, our staff at Atelier Tekuto held workshops with local residents, corporations and many volunteers. We made earthen bricks, laid them out and literally built the building with our own hands. Since making earthen bricks does not require special skills or technique it was easy for everyone to join in. Many residents living in evacuation centers took part in our popular workshops.