project: light well house
location: tokyo
type of use: private house
status: completed
credits:
architect: kentaro kimizuka/kimizuka architects
structural engineer: yse
photo: kentaro kimizuka
brief description:
A two-story house for a young family and their grandmother, projected after the destruction of the original dwelling by fire.
The ways in which different generations living together can find a common value in their house will become one of the key issues in the imminent future, with the phenomenon of an ageing population and the long recession.
The light well, from which the plan spirals out, is first dedicated to the grandmother’s memories of the former courtyard and her room, then also brings the taste of “simpleness” and “brightness”, that the young family think much of. Each generation may find each meaning in the light well at the beginning. However, this light well, a void in the centre of the house, is intended to be a deeply meaningful space, etched over time with the shared memories of the two generations.