Project
KOYO NO YOHAKU MORI: Living Between Seasons
Category
Best Project of Private Residence
About the project (provided by the applicant)
Koyō no Yohaku Mori is a private sanctuary in a Japanese oak forest in Kitakaruizawa, where architecture and landscape merge into a seamless retreat. Designed around Yohaku—the “margin” or space between—it offers residents a place to pause, reflect, and reconnect with nature. The elliptic, oak-leaf-shaped roof, clad in reflective metal, mirrors the forest’s seasonal transformations: autumn reds, winter snow, spring greens.
Minimalist interiors blend tradition and modernity. A tatami room with an irori hearth anchors communal life, while open dining, a playroom, and expansive terraces extend living into the forest. The south terrace hosts fire gatherings beneath the stars, while the north terrace features a sauna, dual-temperature bath, and forest-bathing spaces.
Every detail celebrates balance—community and solitude, shelter and openness, warmth and coolness—creating a residence that lives in dialogue with nature, time, and season.
Location
Kitakaruizawa, Japan
Project design year
2024
Project website
https://www.superspacearch.com/koyonoyohakumori
Extra visual materials
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/14xUM8fjGL332PRz11oKXMqwq8jD1X0NZ?usp=sharing
Applicant
SUPERSPACE
Superspace reimagines architecture as a dialogue between art, nature, and technology. Through nature-responsive design, renewable strategies, and cultural narratives, we craft spaces that inspire resilience, foster empathy, and encourage playful human connection, transforming environmental and urban challenges into immersive, sustainable, and poetic experiences.
Author of the project
SUPERSPACE
Visualization
SUPERSPACE
Status of the project
Conceptual design
