Pit House, a Communion between Architecture and Nature
Keisuke Maeda of UID Architects has designed the Pit House in Tamano, Okayama, Japan. The house is also positioned near Seto Inland Sea, on a terraced mountain hill that was developed as a residential land.
The ground level of the building is higher than the road level and it looks as if the site’s natural environment and the architecture coexist at the same time. The building looks like a living creature that accepts the environment and the landscape to take part into its interior life as a little garden improved with small trees inside the house, but communicating with exterior landscape.
The interior is an extension of the outside along the surface of six floor levels, including a round floor created by digging the surface. All the surfaces are connected with a concrete cylinder core at the center. There are many small room spaces into the house, expression of intimacy, small carpets on the floor together with small tables or places to sit and relax. The building encloses nature inside its huge body, reflecting a perfect communion between landscape and architecture.
