Sumit Singhal Sumit Singhal loves modern architecture. He comes from a family of builders who have built more than 20 projects in the last ten years near Delhi in India. He has recently started writing about the architectural projects that catch his imagination.
House of Toilet in Ibukijima Island, Japan by Daigo Ishii + Future-scape Archtiects
In the traditional local house in Ibukijima Island, the toilet is mostly established in a small cottage separated from the main house. In Ibukijima Island, the toilet is a peripheral space that is repelled and excluded from the main house.
The relation between the main house and the separated cottage resembles the relation between the main land and isolated Ibukijima island or between a big city and a remote district somewhere. Now, Ibukijima island is only connected with liner from Kanonji city of the main land, and the small isolated island serves as the periphery of the main land and the country of Japan.
Wall of alley: transparent polycarbonate corrugated sheet t=0.7mm + structural plywood painted with wood paint with water resistance
Interior finish
Floor: reinforced concrete finished with trowel white gravel
Wall: structural plywood painted with wood paint with water resistance, calsium silicate plate painted with NAD acrylic resin coating
Ceiling: structural plywood painted with wood paint with water resistance, calsium silicate plate painted with NAD acrylic resin coating
However, if it goes back, in Edo period, Ibukijima island was a place where liner connected directly with capital and the upper fashion came immediately, and, as a vestige of that period, the capital dialect of the old time remains.
Once, it was the independent small center of Setouchi Inland See.
House of Toilet tends to change the peripheral space into the center of Ibukijima Island and to give intensity to Ibukijima Island that has been used as the periphery.
When the toilet repelled from the main house gathers, nestles up to one and forms a house, it comes to have the power as a core.
Locality / Internationlity
To the house, the time peculiar to Ibukijima Island and the relation with the world centering on Ibukijima Island was overlaid.
According to the solar orientation at 9:00 a.m on the day when three traditional ceremonies are held and the day of the summer solstice and the winter solstice, the slits of the natural light pass in the architecture. When the ray of sunlight passes in the house at 9:00 a.m once per year, the locals konw the visit of the season.
It is a mechanism in which the identity of Ibukijima island is clarified.
Meanwhile, the lines of the natural light which go to the major cities of 6 continents (Tokyo, London, Nairobi, New York, San Paulo, Sydney) by the shortest distance from Ibukijima island also pass in the architecture.
I considered that Ibukijima island regains the self-respect of the once by being conscious of relation with the world.
When the relation with the world ( Internationality) is added to the identity of Ibukijima Island ( Locality), the direction of the natural light of 2:00 PM would be founded to coincide with the direction of New York and they aware that the internationality exists along the extension of the locality.
Moreover, the place where the axis of these six angles crosses is the coordinates point that indicates the position of Ibukijima island, so, the relation with the world is also the locality itself.
Relation with the landscape of Ibukijima island
The exterior appearance resembles the ordinary local house of this island.
I didn’t design it with the form where the contemporary architecture abruptly appeared.
It is a consideration to the landscape of the island where the traditional sign remains.
The inclination of the roof is united with the surroundings and the color of the outer wall is based on color investigation of the local house of the island.
The alley created between 3 buildings that were cut by the slits of the light goes to the alley of Ibukijima island like a maze.
The wall of the alley and the interior wall of washroom are based on the image of the burnt cedar board as a typical finish but are not necessarily the same as it. For example, the polycarbonate corrugated panel that reflects the scenery is layered on the board. Those have a delicate difference by which they catch their mind somewhere.
In the booth at the depth of the indoor, the big opening is opened on the roof.
The natural light and the rain fall indoors. It is as if they have looked up from the bottom of the local well for collecting rain water peculiar to the island lack of the water.
I hope that the visitor who starts for an island walking after a short breath in House of Toilet will find easily the peculiar landscape of Ibukijima island and the locals is re-conscious of the identity of the island that they used to seeing and, therefore, have forgot to see.
A. Text : House of Toilet – Structure and Technique – 1. 3D Modeling and 3D Processing
As for the structure, the structural plywood with 12 millimeters thick was nailed to the pillar and the strength required as the bearing wall could be ensured 1.5 times more than the regulation at minimum.
The joint is decided by 3D modeling based on advanced 3D CAD operation because of the frame which crossed at a complicated angle. The 3D processing machine which interlocked with 3D modeling cut out the parts.
Though the frame was complicated, the processing on the site was unnecessary because of the precise processing and the erection of framing was completed in a day and a half.
A. Text : House of Toilet – Structure and Technique 2. Fiber Reinforced Plastic Waterproofing
The exterior wall and roof was finished with fiber reinforced plastic waterproofing (Hamanetsu Morenu method) on the structural plywood.
The slit of light was carried out by unifying a transparent fiber reinforced plastic sheet with 3 millimeters with a fiber reinforced plastic waterproofing on the plywood which has been finished by the repeat of the impregnation and grinding and the seamless finish has appeared.
A. Text : House of Toilet – Workshop 1.‘Ibukijima Island as the center in the world’
A workshop for the local children to experience that they don’t live in the periphery of Japan but Ibukijima Island and each person are the center of the world.
Specifically, the children selected places where they wanted to visit, then, on the construction site of House of Toilet, we created a center that was likened to Ibukijima Island and, from the center, extended the string toward the selected places.
In that way, we create a world map with a focus on Ibukijima Island.
At first, at the culmination time on March 24, we observed the exact north by the shadow that the plumb bob generated. However, because of the cloudy, the shadow did not fall.
After all, we put the north, south, east and west with a magnet and established the red disc in the center.
At 1:00 pm, the elementary and junior high school students in the island and the local residents came to the community center.
First, the children announced the place where they wanted to visit in the world. United Kingdom, Cairo, Tasmania, Sydney and Rio de Janeiro were selected.
They indicated those places with the dot seal on the Terrestrial globe and the world map and found the shortest route from Ibukijima Island to those places using the string.
Hereupon, they noticed that some of places had the shortest route in a different direction on the plane world map and the sphere Terrestrial globe.
At the end of this work, they put a tracing paper on which the north, south, east and west were written and recorded the direction of the string of shortest route that they found now.
At 2:00 pm, we moved to the old elementary school playground to which the construction site belonged. The children and we put up a stick to the red disc that we just prepared, overlapped the tracing paper on that and extended the fishing rope in the direction of where they wanted to visit. Then, the placard on which the place name was written was established.
The red disc was Ibukijima Island and, when they viewed from the Ibukijima Island, they knew that United Kingdom, Cairo, Tasmania, Sydney and Rio de Janeiro were in a direction where a placard stood.
In fact, Rio de Janeiro that they thought to be in the south was in the north in the shortest route.
At the end of the workshop, everyone gathered at the red disc and viewed the world from the Ibukijima Island, then, all circulated 5 places in turns.
Then, they knew that they were in the sencter of the world and House of Toilet is located there.
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on Tuesday, January 14th, 2014 at 2:06 am.
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