Island sakai architects: a concise orientation before we get practical.
Island sakai architects: Quick notes
A large corrugated metal roof topped by a triangular skylight shelters the timber-lined interiors of Amami House, an off-grid home in Japan designed by local studio Sakai Architects.
Named after its location on Amami Ōshima, an island in the Amami archipelago off Japan’s southern coast, the 119-square-metre home was designed for the founder of Sakai Architects, Kazunori Sakai.
Corrugated metal lines the roof at Amami House
An increase in extreme weather conditions on the island prompted Sakai to create what he described as an “autonomous, self-sustaining home”, the design of which was informed by the region’s traditional materials and crafts.
As well as using solar power for all of its electricity, the home includes a vegetable garden that doubles as a space for composting food waste, and a small sauna that uses fuel made from construction offcuts.
Sakai Architects lined the interior of the home in timber
“Driven by accelerating environmental degradation and the increasing frequency of extreme weather events, the design seeks a new mode of living that can endure future uncertainties,” Sakai told Dezeen.
“By grounding the project in Amami’s cultural and environmental heritage, the house reinterprets local traditions to propose a contemporary form of resilient, self-reliant habitation,” he added.
Enclosed private spaces surround open living spaces
The home’s organisation is based on a historical, multi-volume layout known as buntō, with private spaces in standalone timber volumes positioned at the corners of a square plan, where they enclose a more open, communal living, kitchen and dining space.
Lining both the interior and exterior of Amami House are planks of sugi, Japanese cedar, which have been dyed using both local mud and the extract of the Sharimbai tree, a process used in the region’s traditional textile craft.
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“By contemporising the buntō logic, the design dissolves rigid boundaries – between rooms, between indoors and outdoors, and between family and community,” Sakai said.
“These open, tolerant spaces evoke the spirit of yui, Amami’s tradition of collective cooperation, transforming the house into a cultural as well as architectural gesture,” he added.
Eaves shelter the outdoor space around the house
The home’s timber volumes – containing a bedroom, storage, pantry, sauna and bathroom – stop short of a large, open attic space, which was designed to help naturally ventilate the home.
Above, the beams of the oversized metal roof have been left exposed and extend to support large eaves that shelter an engawa and entrance porch around the home’s perimeter.
A sauna uses fuel made from construction offcuts
The form of this roof, known as irimoya, or hip and gable, was chosen by Sakai as a contemporary interpretation of the corrugated metal and tiled roofs typical in the area.
Other homes in Japan recently featured on Dezeen include a concrete home in Tokyo by Suzuko Yamada Architects with furniture cast within its walls and an angular red home in Shikoku Island by Marutau Arqui.
The photography is by Toshihisa Ishii.
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