Residence in Kurakuen by NRM Architects

Organic and flowing despite concrete – these are the first impressions of the residential house settled between the Japanese cities Kobe and Osaka. The “NRM Architects” Shunichiro Ninomiya und Tomoko Morodome intentionally use a building-language that deviates from the rigor of Japanese architecture: The house in the village Kurakuen reflects the organic and sweeping lines of nature.

The architects chose concrete as the main material. It enables the creation of organic structures and forms as well as slim and curved designs with uniform surfaces. The very building material selected makes the building create an exciting symbiosis of form and environment. The architects Shunichiro Ninomiya and Tomoko Morodome use large viewing windows and the skylights in the bathroom equipped with Duravit Vero counter basin to integrate the room into nature and nature into the room. However, the architect Shunichiro Ninomiya not only intends to communicate with the landscape through the window but with the land the house is built on too. The house owes its basic form to this interaction, the architect said.

In 2012, the house won the Japanese architectural award “Osaka Association of Architects & Building Engineers”. This award also recognizes the development of technology and culture in Japanese architecture.