Oggi House, is great example of Tokyo-based Makoto Yamaguchi Design’ approach of combining tradition with the contemporary.
Oggi House is an apartment building made of reinforced concrete structure. Despite its modern appearance, the aim was to design a house, which does not interfere with the typical townhouses.“The client’s family owns this land in this residential district over 100 years. Their successive houses have always been attractive in this town. When the client decided to replace the last house made of wood with a new apartment building made of reinforced concrete structures, the client naturally hoped it will be a design which contributes to the townscape as the previous houses had done on this site,” explained the architects.
During the design process, the architects kept the client’s traditions in mind, since they both hoped to preserve the atmosphere, and create a bridge between the contemporary and traditional. The boundary walls around the house are coated with red bricks, meanwhile the house is covered in white tiles, creating a harmonizing color combination.
When approaching the door, one is confronted by the tranquil scenery of a beautiful green Japanese garden, which was constructed from the previous existing moss backyard. It invites to linger over the sight, allowing guests to enjoy peaceful and calming moment before entering the house. Each entrance around the building opens up to one big room, which serves as the main connection to the other rooms of the apartment. To enhance the feeling of continuity between the rooms, the same finish was applied to the floor, the walls and the ceiling during the interior design process. Oggi House doesn’t just simply merges into its surroundings. It contributes to the townscape by keeping the traditional values, meanwhile, having characteristics of a 21st century building.
