Keiji Ashizawa creates holiday home within historic machiya
Japanese studio Keiji Ashizawa Design has created the Toune holiday home in a 120-year-old machiya, preserving its original layout and the "sense of time embedded within the building" while giving it a contemporary update.
The studio renovated the two-storey building in Kyoto's central Shimogyo Ward, while retaining original details such as its raised entrance, known as an agari kamachi, a tori-niwa indoor passage and its timber framework.
"For this project, we wanted to carefully reinterpret a traditional Kyoto machiya for contemporary living while preserving the atmosphere and sense of time embedded within the building," Keiji Ashizawa Design (KAD) studio founder Keiji Ashizawa told Dezeen.
"Rather than introducing something entirely new, we tried to quietly reveal and enhance the qualities already present in the existing space, allowing people to experience them naturally through a contemporary lens."
The wooden townhouse, or machiya, also features a double-height central space that links the ground-floor kitchen and dining area with the living room on the floor above.
When renovating the three-bedroom house, KAD preserved its existing cedar and pine elements and added new hinoki cypress details.
"We also used natural materials such as plaster, washi paper, stone and iron – materials that have long been part of Japanese architecture," Ashizawa said.
"Rather than over-designing them, we wanted the textures and ageing of the materials themselves to quietly shape the atmosphere of the space."
Toune's ground-floor space has one bedroom as well as a kitchen and dining room, while the first floor holds two bedrooms and a living room, where the studio added wooden floors and handrails.
To make the interior of the 90-square-metre house feel contemporary, while still keeping the historic layout, KAD used modern furniture and lighting.
"But beyond that, we focused on the quality of light, spatial proportions, and the relationship between materials," Ashizawa explained.
"Rather than creating a strong contrast between old and new, we wanted the different layers of time to blend naturally and form a calm, unified atmosphere."
Throughout the house, KAD used a neutral colour palette of white and dark brown hues.
The ground floor has a slightly darker feel to complement the ageing patina of the house, while the first floor was given a lighter colour palette to underscore its natural light.
Machiyas, which were constructed between the 17th and 19th centuries, combine homes and shop spaces and are most common in Kyoto. They usually have a narrow facade that faces the street and a long and deep interior.
Toune is the latest in a series of machiya renovations, with architects and designers often choosing to underscore the historic aspects and details of their design.
To Ashizawa, their popularity is due to their intimate scale and the use of mainly organic materials.
"I think much of the appeal comes from the materiality and human scale that are difficult to find in contemporary architecture today," he said.
"The softness of wood, earth, and washi paper, together with the intimate scale of the spaces, creates a unique sense of comfort," Ashizawa continued.
"There is also a richness in the relationship between light, shadow, and gardens that feels deeply connected to everyday life. I think many people today are rediscovering the beauty and authenticity embedded within these spaces."
Other recent Kyoto projects include a shingle-covered teahouse and a hotel designed by Kengo Kuma with an interior that also draws on machiyas.
The photography is by Tomooki Kengaku.
Project credits:
Architect: Keiji Ashizawa Design
Project architect: Keiji Ashizawa, Nanako Inoue
Construction: Nishinihon Setsubi
Furniture: Karimoku Case
Lighting: Santa and Cole
Styling: Yumi Nakata
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