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White Cave House

Takuro Yamamoto Architects

White Cave House is a massive lump engraved by a series of voids interconnected in the shape of a kinked tube. The connection of voids - we call it Cave - is the theme of this house. Internal rooms are designed to enjoy the minimum views of Cave characterized by its whiteness. At the same time, this concept is also the practical solution to realize a courtyard house in Kanazawa city known for heavy snow in Japan.


白洞屋是一塊巨大的突起物,上面刻有一系列以彎折的管狀形狀相互連接的空隙。 空隙的連接-我們稱之為洞穴-是這所房子的主題。 內部客房經過精心設計,可讓您以白色為特徵,使Cave的景緻降至最低。同時,這個概念也是在日本以大雪聞名的金澤市實現四合院的實際解決方案。

The client’s original request was a white minimally-designed house with many external spaces, such as a large snow-proof approach to the entrance, a roofed garage for multiple cars, a terrace facing to the sky, and a courtyard.


客戶最初的要求是一間白色的設計簡約的房子,帶有許多外部空間,例如入口處採用大型防雪方法,可容納多輛汽車的帶頂車庫,面向天空的露台和庭院。

Though a roofed entrance and a garage are desirable for snowy place, it takes so many floor areas away from the internal rooms for the family, while the space and the budget is limited. In addition, courtyard style itself is not suitable to the snowy country because courtyards would be easily buried under snow.


儘管在下雪的地方需要帶屋頂的入口和車庫,但對於家庭而言,它需要佔用很多內部空間,而空間和預算卻很有限。 另外,庭院風格本身不適合下雪的國家,因為庭院很容易被埋在雪下。

To solve the problems, we proposed to connect these external spaces one another into a large single tube, or Cave, and have each part serve multiple purposes in order to make up for the space limitations. We designed Cave unstraight because it prevents passengers outside from seeing through, though it is not closed.


為了解決這些問題,我們建議將這些外部空間彼此連接成一個大的單管或“洞”,並讓每個部分都具有多種用途,以彌補空間的局限性。 我們設計了非直線洞穴,因為它雖然沒有緊閉,但可以防止外面的乘客看見。

By this arrangement, Cave takes a new turn for each part letting in the sunshine while protecting privacy of the courtyard, the terrace, and the internal rooms. The family inside can enjoy the view of Cave changing its contrast throughout a day under the sunshine. Cave also serves as a route to remove snow from the external spaces in winter, otherwise you would be at a loss with a lot of snow in the enclosed courtyard.


通過這種安排,Cave在保護庭院,露台和內部房間的私密性的同時使陽光照射的每個部分都煥然一新。 內部的家人可以在全天的陽光下欣賞洞穴變化的景色。 洞穴還可以作為在冬天從外部空間清除積雪的途徑,否則封閉的院落會積雪很多到令人頭痛。

In order to make Cave deserve its name more, we wondered if we could add the reflection of water to the house because we thought water is inseparable from white caves. We eventually figured out that the terrace was an appropriate site to place it. The terrace covered by white waterproof FRP holds a thin layer of water like a white basin. On the terrace reflecting the skyview without obstacles, you may feel that Cave has brought you to another world far from the daily life.


為了使Cave更應得其名,我們想知道是否可以將水的反射添加到房屋中,因為我們認為水與白色洞穴密不可分。 我們最終發現露台是放置它的合適地點。 白色防水FRP覆蓋的露台上像白色盆一樣薄薄地積著一層水。 在無障礙的反映天空美景的露台上,您可能會感到洞穴將您帶到了遠離日常生活的另一個世界。