Glass Block Wall – Horiuchi House

Architect/Firm: Tadao Ando

Location: Osaka

Images:

Concept:

The human eye catche     s information carrie     d by light and inter     prets it into visual images. Light an     d darkness are two      extremes and the gr     adient between them allows t      he distinction of for     ms and colours. Lig     ht can be distorted, refracted, re     flected, or blocked      by various means su     ch as heat, water, or man-made de     vices like lenses an     d mirrors to complic     ate or

simplify the way object     s appear. People ex    plored the effect ligh     t since the beginning of mankind,      when they painted      animals on dark rock     s and observed the lit exterio     r showing from the     entrance of a cave. It     is a declaration of might –      proving the ability t     o control light. This      control is the concept behind Gla     ss Block Wall.

If concrete walls are used as rock and glass as the opening of a cave, Tadao Ando chose to make the experience of someone standing inside the house looking out – and vice-versa – a little more sophisticated. He erected a wall made entirely out of glass blocks, letting light in but distorting any visual information it carries. The wall forms a distinction between interior and exterior without completely separating them – letting the house belong in its street and allowing privacy at the same time.

 

Standing under a mountain

looking at the way

in which darkness turns to white

–

he turns his back to the light

stepping into black

volumes turn to silhouettes

–

His eyes are open but he

cannot see his hand

walks like this for quite some time

–

Dirt sets on his shirt and neck

and he listens to

the slow cracking of the rock

–

And his breath is steady when

he notices a dot

lifts his head and sees another tiny speck of white

and between the dots a cylinder of lighted dust

–

This page is an interpertation of a house that exists in my mind. I have no idea how it is like to walk inside it or how accurate my drawings of it are – in fact I had to invent certain details since there wasn’t much information about it to be found. In this way, the Horiuchi House became a vessal for my imagination and logic to fill with my thoughts and conclusions. It does not matter that my ideas might be remote from what the house is actually like. This is why I allowed myself to dream away with my drawings and disconnect them even further from the house itself, trying to explain a concept I have decided this house is about – light entering a modern cave.

Drawings: AutoCAD printouts on two ply bristol board, soy sauce, yellow water colour, and water with graphite.

Drawing Block Wall

Soy sauce rendering process

http://rotemmmf.wordpress.com/2009/10/20/drawing-with-soy-sauce/

Models:

AutoCAD Drawings:

Collage:

Resources: “Horiuchi Residence,” Japan Architect 54, no.10 (270)(oct., 1979):71-76.

Jeremy, Michael, and M. E. Robinson, Ceremony and Symbolism in the Japanese Home, New York: Manchester UP, 1989.

Judidio, Philip, Tadao Ando at Naoshima: Art, Architecture, Nature. New York: Rizzoli, 2006.

Long, Susan Orpett, Family Change and The Life Course in Japan, Ithaca N.Y.: China-Japan Program, Cornell University, 1987

Final Model Arch 057 Horiuchi House with Additions. Richiemonrich on Flickr. http://www.flickr.com/photos/39583011@N05/3778764694/

 —————— what used to be here before ———————————–

 

Architect/Firm: Tadao Ando

Location: Osaka

Images:

Concept:

The human eye catche     s information carrie     d by light and inter     prets it into visual images. Light an     d darkness are two      extremes and the gr     adient between them allows t      he distinction of for     ms and colours. Lig     ht can be distorted, refracted, re     flected, or blocked      by various means su     ch as heat, water, or man-made de     vices like lenses an     d mirrors to complic     ate or

simplify the way object     s appear. People ex    plored the effect ligh     t since the beginning of mankind,      when they painted      animals on dark rock     s and observed the lit exterio     r showing from the     entrance of a cave. It     is a declaration of might –      proving the ability t     o control light. This      control is the concept behind Gla     ss Block Wall.

If concrete walls are used as rock and glass as the opening of a cave, Tadao Ando chose to make the experience of someone standing inside the house looking out – and vice-versa – a little more sophisticated. He erected a wall made entirely out of glass blocks, letting light in but distorting any visual information it carries. The wall forms a distinction between interior and exterior without completely separating them – letting the house belong in its street and allowing privacy at the same time.

 

Standing under a mountain

looking at the way

in which darkness turns to white

he turns his back to the light

stepping into black

volumes turn to silhouettes

His eyes are open but he

cannot see his hand

walks like this for quite some time

Dirt sets on his shirt and neck

and he listens to

the slow cracking of the rock

And his breath is steady when

he notices a dot

lifts his head and sees another

tiny speck of white

and between the dots a cylinder

of lighted dust

Resources:

1) Unlisted author, “Horiuchi Residence,” The Japan Architect 7910 (1979): 71.
2) Long, Susan orpett, Family Change and The Life Course in Japan, (Ithaca: Cornell University, 1987)
3) Jeremy, Michael, and M. E. Robinson, Ceremony and Symbolism in the Japanese home, (Manchester: Manchester University Press, 1989)
4) Judidio, Philip, Tadao Ando at Naoshima: Art, Architecture, Nature, (New York: Rozzoli International Publications, 2006)
5) Flickr, http://www.flickr.com/photos/39583011@N05/3778764694/