Minimalist Concrete And Stone Residence In Japan

F Residence, the combined house and office of Go Fujita, founder of architecture office Gosize, reflects a distinctive Japanese aesthetic that favors natural materials and finds beauty in simplicity. Located in Hyogo, in a beautiful natural setting selected as one of Japan’s top 100 sites for viewing cherry blossoms, the house blends within its surrounding environment through an exterior that combines a natural stone base with a reinforced concrete shell.

Gosize founder and project architect Go Fujita has designed his house and office with emphasis on plainness and blank spaces within the interior, creating a wealth of connections with the outside world. On the ground floor, the doma, a tiled area that can be walked on without removing shoes, is built with a double-height ceiling and opens inward onto a private courtyard and water feature where subtle seasonal changes in the plants and the sound of water prompt a keen awareness of time. Interior spaces become increasingly open to the surrounding environment as they move upwards, offering a chance to come into sync with nature and open oneself to the outside world.

This residence and office are to serve as a place to reconnect with the nature-based wisdom and spiritual culture our ancestors have passed down to us as well as to quietly reexamine the life of the architect himself.