Rowhouse in Kigawa | Yoshihiro Yamamoto

Yodogawa-ku, Osaka City is densely populated with buildings of various sizes and uses, such as condominiums, office buildings, small residences, and stores. Although it is convenient for transportation, it is difficult to secure sunlight, ventilation, and privacy.The client is a man in his 50s and his mother. The townscape of row houses built before World War II was divided and reconstructed over time, and the last remaining unit was the owner's residence. This project was to demolish and reconstruct it.The rectangular site, long and narrow from north to south, was divided into 8 cells (2 x 4 = 8), and a motorcycle garage, a mother's bedroom, a living room, a kitchen, a bathroom, sanitary facilities, and two terraces were allocated according to the lifestyle of two adults. The small cells are connected or disconnected by the opening and closing of sliding doors.The materials used for indoor and outdoor spaces are not unified to mimic transparency or seamlessness, but are chosen for their functional necessity, and even when the sliding doors are open, the interior and exterior remain separate areas. This relationship between room and sliding door reminds us of the traditional Japanese row-house approach.In response to the client's request for a living space with various uses, ventilation, and lighting on a small site, we ended up with a plan that inherited the spatial elements of the previous house. This project may have evoked memories of life in the many row houses that once existed in the area.