The site is part of the Tamozawa Imperial Villa, an important cultural property built as a retreat for Emperor Taisho, surrounded by beautiful mountains with a sacred atmosphere created by the succession of cedar trees from the imperial villa. The theme of this project was to revive the memory of this place as an imperial retreat and its extraordinary atmosphere and create a truly open sanctuary.
Tamozawa Imperial Villa is a residential complex featuring three different architectural styles from the late Edo, Meiji, and Taisho periods. It is characterized by its beautiful roofs and comfortable spaces arranged in a gankou shape (literally "flying geese," a pattern consisting of a series of rectangles set back diagonally in a zig-zag shape) created through repeated additions and renovations. Upon seeing these features, the author realized that the geometry of the gankou shape represented a memory and spatial quality inherent to the site and decided to create a building that would pass on this memory and spatial quality. The building succeeded the shape of the Tamozawa Imperial Villa with its beautiful roof in the gankou shape and was arranged to blend in with the site.
This land is surrounded by many natural forests, including cedar trees, and layers of trees and groves create varying shadows and form spaces so deep that one cannot get a full view at a glance. The sound of the stream, animal noises, and shadows felt beyond the trees have created a solemn atmosphere along a temporal axis that does not exist in everyday life. We made an architecture that harmonizes with this atmosphere, which can be described as the original landscape of Nikko and blends in with nature.
The cedar trees on the site are open in some places, and create a sense of "oku" (innermost area) in others, where one feels as if drawn deeper into them. The design of the corridor spaces connecting the various wings responds to the subtle interplay of forces that draw the cedar forest deeper inside from the approach. It creates various scenes as if one were strolling through a cedar forest in Nikko, establishing the spatial quality of "oku" unique to this place, far away from the bustle of the city.
Nikko is famous for its iconic resort hotels, such as the Nikko Kanaya Hotel, which led the Japanese hotel industry in its infancy. The region has a long history of building up its potential as a high-quality resort featuring "good taste" where relaxation, comfort, and people's well-being are paramount, which people have long patronized for more than 100 years. Here, by creating a "design that blends architecture and landscape" that makes the most of the rich nature while passing on the memory of the land, w e have realized "good taste" as a high-quality resor t, which people will cherish for many years to come, and achieved dignity that is appropriate to the potential of Nikko.