Yoshichika Takagi adds translucent facade to gabled house in Hokkaido

A house with an asymmetrical roof on the Japanese island of Hokkaido has been renovated and extended by architecture studio Yoshichika Takagi + Associates.

Yoshichika Takagi + Associates has carried out a dramatic renovation of a house on the outskirts of the city of Furano, which was originally built in 1974.

The studio stripped the two-storey house back to its wooden frame. Its clapboard facade was removed and replaced by black sheet metal on three sides, while panels of translucent corrugated plastic cover the extension on the fourth side.

Yoshichika Takagi + Associates named the project Deformed Roofs of Furano for its unusual profile.

The project is based on a study carried out by the studio of asymmetrical buildings in the area that were popular in the 1960s and 70s.

"Houses such as these, which are called 'deformed roof' houses, can be seen often in Hokkaido, but is difficult to call them beautiful, and cannot be seen out of Hokkaido," said the studio.

"The base of this plan was to pass this deformed roof house, which can be said as a conceit in Hokkaido history, down to the next generation."

Having been taken back to its frame, the house was extended by 1.8 metres along the asymmetrically gabled side.

This double-height, timber-framed extension is enclosed by sheets of corrugated plastic, creating a greenhouse-style space.

As a traditional Japanese doma space on the threshold between the indoors and outdoors, the extension has dirt floor with paving stones.

Glass doors open to the ground level, and a painted wooden staircase leads straight to the first floor.

Yoshichika Takagi + Associates re-divided the house's two stories so that the children's areas are at ground level, and the adult's rooms are above.

A twin bedroom is downstairs, with a small kitchen and diner, and tatami mat room.

Upstairs an open plan kitchen with a breakfast bar is at the centre of the home.

The dining table is placed on a platform over the extension next to the covered balcony that extends out from the new facade.

A mezzanine storey is built into the highest part of the gabled roof, containing a double bedroom.

Timber structures have been left exposed, and areas of wall are painted white.

Wooden bookshelves line the first floor, and the minimal kitchen has cupboards and white goods hidden behind sliding white doors.

A metal-framed kitchen island has a stainless steel unit with a sink set into it.

Yoshichika Takagi + Associates, which was founded in 2012, also used timber and corrugated plastic to create a house with a sunroom in Sapporo.

Photography is by Ikuya Sasaki.

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Project credits:

Architect: Yoshichika Takagi + Associate
Construction: Daisuke Hasegawa & Partners

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Balenciaga floods runway for apocalyptic Paris Fashion Week show

Luxury fashion house Balenciaga has presented its autumn/winter 2020 collection on a purposefully flooded catwalk to draw attention to the threat of climate change and rising sea levels.

Set within the Cité du Cinema film studio complex in Paris, the Balenciaga show took place on a central runway submerged under water, which was surrounded by an oblong amphitheatre of seats.

Although only a few centimetres deep, this water created the illusion of an almost bottomless abyss at the centre of the show.

The first three, most sought-after, rows of seating were also partially engulfed by water. This meant attendees had to watch from further back, at a slight distance from the spectacle.

An LED screen suspended from the ceiling flitted between natural scenes including crashing waves, churning clouds, swarming crows and bright red glowing lava, which were reflected in the water below.

Models in the first section of the show were dressed in all-black ensembles, while others donned branded wellies, galoshes and latex trench coats as they sloshed down the runway.

The collection saw creative director Demna Gvasalia expand his ongoing fascination with workwear – as seen in the famous Vetements DHL T-shirts – into a whole new set of professions in the form of priest's robes and football uniforms.

The music that accompanied the show alternated between ominous classical melodies and dark, aggressive techno to add to the oppressive atmosphere.

In keeping with the set's environmental message, the brand reportedly plans to have the water returned to, and reused, by the city of Paris.

Despite these efforts, the show still showcased 105 different outfits, at a time when activist groups including Extinction Rebellion are calling out the fashion industry for being one of the world's most polluting.

In 2019, the design for Balenciaga's spring/summer show was equally political, with a monochromatic EU blue set and a bespoke scentscape intended to captured the smell of power.

The year before that, Gvasalia took on the digital age by staging the show inside of a tunnel of LED screens, that created the impression of being inside of a computer.

Within the scientific community, rising sea levels have been an increasingly urgent concern, as they present one of climate change's most immediately tangible – and devastating – effects. A Dutch oceanographer recently suggested that erecting two dams in the North Sea could be a last ditch effort to defend Europe from the encroaching waves.

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Tickets are now available for March’s Nicer Tuesdays!

This month, on the 31st, we’ll be joined by Studio Output, Sam Gainsborough, Joy Yamusangie and Abbie Trayler-Smith. See you there!

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A Love Story: the BAFTA-winning short that follows the heartbreaking journey of two animated yarn puppets

Directed and animated by Anushka Kishani Naanayakkara, A Love Story follows the story of two woollen characters as they navigate through happiness, love, loss and “emotional ache”.

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Watch our talk with Formafantasma live from the Serpentine Gallery in London

Dezeen's chief content officer Ben Hobson will speak to Andrea Trimarchi and Simone Farresin of Formafantasma about their new exhibition at the Serpentine Gallery in London. Watch the talk here live from 5:00pm.

The stream has not started yet. Watch it here live from 5:00pm UK time. 

The talk coincides with the opening of the Italian design duo's new exhibition at London's Serpentine Gallery. Titled Cambio, the exhibition examines the use of wood as a material in global industry and the impact it has had on the environment.

The conversation will explore the designers' research into the topic, which delves into history of the wood industry and its supply chains.

Cambio marks the third ever design-focussed exhibition at the Serpentine Gallery and is part of a programme of events celebrating the institution's 50th anniversary this year.

Formafantasma will be in discussion with Dezeen last the Serpentine Gallery in London

Based in Amsterdam, Formafantsma's work often investigates materials through their historical context and impact on the biosphere.

They've previously designed a collection of surface tiles glazed with volcanic ash from Mount Etna and a recyclable exhibition display for the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam.

Dezeen hosts and livestreams talks and panel discussions from around the world.

Recent examples include a talk with Lego on childhood and creativity and a talk with London-based design practice Doshi Levien at Stockholm Furniture Fair.

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