Materiality In Architecture

Terunobu Fujimori, Miscellaneous Works

I just finished this month’s Dwell and was completely taken with this architect’s work. I admire architects who are able blend vernacular and modern language to produce something unexpected. My favorite element of many of his houses is the use of charred cedar siding. Cedar planks or shakes are a common siding material all over the world due to the wood’s inherent ability to repel moisture and mold. In Japanese culture it was common to let the exterior surface to char, allowing the siding to last around 80 years. Incredibly, this craft has all but died out (according to the Dwell article). The architect’s body of work seems to have, at least to me, a medieval quality to it–suspended turrets, barn-like massing, small, random openings, and simple geometry that at the same time feels light and fresh. The Charred cedar House, below, reminds me of the tobacco barns that dot the Connecticut River Valley with its vertical siding and long facade. I especially like the Lamune Hot Spring House for its alternating dark and light vertical siding and turreted roof. I can only imagine what it must be like inside with two pine trees poking through the rafters. Please read the article on dwell.com and click through its associated slide show.

1 Charred Cedar House, 2007

2 Jinchokan Moriya Historical Museum, 1991

3 Lamune Hot Spring House, 2005

4 Roof, Tanpopo House, 1995

5 Access to elevated Tea Room, Coal House, 2008

6 Detail, Coal House

7 The Architect in his home