House of Tohma

The house of Tohma is located in a rural area, suburb of town Tohma Hokkaido.Four people (the husband of a mountain guide and his mother, his wife presides over a drawing class, his son) live in the house.They had rented a farm house and farmland abandon farming in this area before.Their request to new house is that they want a wood stove lasting until morning because they had waked up once at the midnight and added firewoods so as to survive the cold of the winter.It was a bother to them but firewood was the most inexpensive material to get heat.I realized again a fundamental function of house that protect people from cold.(It becomes under 25 degrees in the coldest period of Tohma. )
The new wood stove is placed at the hall and people can see rice fields and the Daisetsu Mountains from a window of there.The natural light from the observation deck light up the hole interior and the earth floor and kitchen and underground storage space play functional role at harvest period.These place is heaped like a tower surrounding a natural light.It is just like coutinuous range of barns.People can feel each other everywhere else without disturbing their privacy.

House of Tohma by Hiroshi Horio in Japan won the WA Award Cycle 10. Please find below the WA Award poster for this project.