Minimalist Four Leaves Weekend Villa In Japan

Designed to accommodate the owners and their friends in the rich natural environment at a mountain retreat 150 kilometers away from Tokyo, the Four Leaves weekend villa built by Kentaro Ishida Architects Studio is located in the middle of a forest in Karuizawa, Nagano prefecture of Japan. Each function of the building faces its own desired orientation — living and dining spaces point at south-east for a brighter living environment, while the master bedroom and bathroom face west offering private scenery of the forest. These compartments are assembled into thee interconnected volumes, resulting in an unusual slope of the roofs resembling four leaves.

In order to form variable cross-section suitable for each function, roofs are designed as curved surface like gently twisted leaves. The combination of concave and convex surfaces derives from the subtle flow of the high-ceiling rich space into introverted compact rooms. Every roof has been designed as a ruled surface in which straight laminated veneer lumber joists are arranged continuously to form an organic geometry.

A series of wooden joists is exposed on the ceiling highlighting the dynamic spatial characters of each living space. The design process that responds to its environmental context has produced multiple organic roofs and established architecture as an aggregate of diverse living spaces. The appearance of the villa blends in harmoniously with the natural surroundings and is perfectly integrated to the local landscape.