Fukei Landscape Research Institute|Mt. Fuji Foothill Garden

The west-facing garden receives intense sunlight in the afternoon, but through these perforated panels, a soft pool of light is created in the garden and by the window, like sunlight shining through the trees. When countless particles of lava light are sprinkled throughout the space, it will once again become a part of Mt. Fuji.

Thanks to Fukei Landscape Institute for sharing on gooood

The site, located in Fujinomiya City, Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan, was originally planned to be used as a resting place and office for crane factory workers. On a clear day, the view of Mt. Fuji is in full view, but scattered houses obscure the panoramic view of Mt. Fuji. Standing on the site and looking around, you can see that the site is located in an urbanized area, surrounded by factories, cranes, parking lots, neighboring houses and their fields, and other debris.

▲项目及后方的富士山 ©Naoki Masumoto

Factories, cranes, parking lots, neighboring houses and their fields, and so on, are cluttered and elusive. After several visits to the site, the architect learned about the characteristics of the area and how the existing office space was used. In dialogue with clients and the people who work here, the architect decides on a series of policies to decide what kind of buildings to build here.

・ Escape from the dangerous factory environment and create a bright and soft place.

・ In a wider environment, people can feel what kind of place they are in.

・ When the area is limited, create an environment that has both personal space and gathering space.

・ Make maximum use of the opening facing west.

・ Make full use of the customer's skills in façade design.

▲ Sketch ©Fukei

▲项目外观 ©Naoki Masumoto

The aim was to create a place where workers could relax for a short time while allowing light to enter the interior, disconnecting from their surroundings and reconnecting with the air of Mt. Fuji.

▲让光线进入室内 ©Naoki Masumoto

Cut off the field of view to change the light

Since the site is located in a controlled urbanization area, the building had to be rebuilt on the same scale as the original building at the time of planning. The architect designed a rational rectangular plan, and the triangular plot on the west side in front of the site and in the middle of the road was transformed into a garden. The garden is enclosed by pergolas and perforated fiberglass panels, maximising daylight while separating the garden from cluttered landscaping. The interior area is divided into progressive strips, from the garden to the lounge area, the office, the transport line to the backyard. In addition to the floor-to-ceiling windows and skylights, the only openings are small windows for the transfer of tools and other items from the office space to the craftsmen, and the view from the interior to the outside has also been carefully selected. Thanks to the garden and skylights on the west side, the light entering the interior space changes throughout the day. In the morning, light enters through the angle of the skylight, and in the afternoon, light enters the room through the panels.

▲建筑入口 ©Naoki Masumoto

▲临街界面 ©Naoki Masumoto

▲内部空间 ©Naoki Masumoto

▲天窗及落地窗 ©Naoki Masumoto

▲天窗引入自然光线 ©Naoki Masumoto

▲天窗细部 ©Naoki Masumoto

A building at the foot of Mt. Fuji

When circling the site, the architect noticed a pile of black stones piled haphazardly in a scrap yard. Looking around, the architect found a similar stone lying in the surrounding courtyard of the building, which was formed by the cooling and solidification of the lava of Mt. Fuji more than 300 years ago.

▲内部空间的光影效果 ©Naoki Masumoto

When the architect smashed the stone open, it was discovered that there was a cool-hardened bubble pattern on the beautiful blue-gray surface. The pattern is full of variations and very vivid: some look like they are rushing, some look like the moment when a large number of bubbles rise and are released into the air, and some are like large and small bubbles scattered all over the place. Architects were fascinated by these patterns, which still seem to contain the life force of magma.

▲来自火山岩内部结构的灵感 ©Naoki Masumoto

The garden is surrounded by rounded corners of fiberglass steel (FRP). The customer not only owned the crane, but also mastered the special FRP molding technology, which achieved a skirt-like shape by combining a mold with different curvatures on the upper and lower sides and flipping it. The FRP panels are made using a cross-section of lava and several patterns are combined together and mounted onto the panels on the spot. Factory workers drill holes according to drawings during work breaks. Their work on the steel is usually very precise, so it is not a problem to drill holes in the fiberglass according to the drawings without any deviations. The broken stone became a stepping stone in the garden. The interior of the enclosed garden is planted with local rocks, ferns, pines, and other plants that have grown on Mt. Fuji since ancient times, in an attempt to create a garden that transplants the environment of Mt. Fuji. The west-facing garden receives intense sunlight in the afternoon, but through these perforated panels, a soft pool of light is created in the garden and by the window, like sunlight shining through the trees. When countless particles of lava light are sprinkled throughout the space, it will once again become a part of Mt. Fuji.

Project drawings

▲Plane ©Fukei

Project Name: 富士山脚花园 Fuji Skirt

Place: Fujinomiya. Shizuoka, JapanProject duration: 2019 – 2021GFA: 96 ㎡Firm: 景观研究所 FukeiLead architect: 大島碧 Midori Oshima, 小松大祐 Daisuke KomatsuStructure Designer:MOFLandscape architect: AOI LandscapeArchitect´s website: https://www.fukei.site/Contact: [email protected] credit: Naoki Masumoto