How do you make an ancient structure modern and livable?  Katsuhiro Miyamoto and Associates figured it out with the Hankai House in Akashi City.  The original structure has many old pieces – roof parts and walls that date back to anywhere between 90 and 300 years ago.

The original structure was a wooden gate house – construction on the modern part of the structure began in 2007 and just ended summer of 2010.  The goal of the architect was to be true to the original structure, while making it modern and safe.  The newer parts of the structure make it so that the structure is earthquake resistant, which is amazing considering that means that a historic location is protected.

Aesthetically, it is a wonderful combination of the old and the new, with the textures and flavors of the old with the layouts and convenience of the new.  Burnt cedar adorns the outer walls while the floor plans have a modern and open feel.

The bottom part of the above photo shows that the end result is really quite striking.  Form and function meet history and grace.

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A short train ride from Tokyo will take you to the city of Matsumoto, and to Matsumoto Castle.  One of Japan’s most stunning castles, Matsumoto Castle (also called Matsumotojo) was built during the Sengoku peroid – which is dubbed the Warring States period.  It was a time of conflict in Japan that stretched from the mid-15th century to the start of the 17th century.

During this time, guys called Daimyo lorded over their territories of Japan, and some of them lived in these types of castles, which were built into hills or on the edges of rivers to help fortify them and protect them.  Matsumoto Castle is special because it is built on a plain, although it is elevated and surrounded by a moat.

The history of the castle is long and complicated.  At first it was a fort called Fukashi Castle.  Built in 1504, it changed rulers in 1550 and the new rulers built onto Fukashi, adding multiple towers, the keep (which is a Japanese national treasure), and more.  The final product was finished around 1594.

The castle stood throughout the rest of the feudal period in Japan.  6 daimyo families ruled Matsumoto until the Mejii Restoration in the 1870′s.  The Mejii Restoration saw a lot of changes in Japan’s political structure and did away with the feudal style of governing.  At that time, Matsumoto Castle was auctioned off to the city government.

Eventually, the outer castle was demolished but the keep and many of the towers remain.  Kobayashi Unari, a high school principal in the late 1800′s, raised funds to renovate the ancient castle, and it was renovated between 1903 and 1913.  It was renovated further in the 1950′s, and again in 1990 and 1999.

Today the castle is open for tours and is home to many activities during the course of the year.  You can see the cherry blossoms in April, go to a Moon Viewing party in the autumn, or go to the drum festival in the summertime.

photo by ken2754@Yokohama

Home designers may focus on the setting for their designs but the ideal for ecologically sound development is simply minimizing or completely negating the impact of development. Making the house “disappear” by blending the development into the surrounding landscape is one design development finding a degree of credibility after a shaky start.

Painting existing development can be used to minimize the visual impact on the environment by using a color scheme which blends the dwelling into the environment. This has achieved mixed results as can be seen with the “pixilated camouflage” of this home in Ohio:

Perhaps someone still has an issue after an extended tour in Iraq, but the following home in Gulfport, Florida achieves a more appealing, aesthetic impact by using a jungle paint job, inspired by Vietnam or excessive viewing of Oliver Stone’s “Platoon”?

These two “camouflage” paint jobs may be amateurish in their effort to stamp individuality onto existing dwellings or a valid attempt at integrating the property with its surroundings, but serious designers and architects are exploring the possibilities too.

The “Camouflage House” by Johnsen Schmaling Architects, seeks to combine a low slung design with funky paintwork and natural materials to provide aesthetic appeal.

The funky paint work still intrudes upon the eye when close up to the dwelling, however this is countered by the dwelling nestling into a bluff on a lake side and takes advantage of a camouflage feature: the ability to blend in with surroundings at a distance but to be visible up close.

Japanese architect, Hiroshi Iguchi has taken the camouflage concept further in home design with his “Camouflage House 3″ and eschewed the use of paintwork completely. Here, a greenhouse design incorporates trees and plants as part of the design of the dwelling which further minimizes the impact on the landscape by using trees, commonly found in the area, as the basis for the living material of the design.

Camouflage is not simply the use of color or materials which mimic the immediate location but also uses the fact that our brains are keyed to recognize set shapes and associate them with certain objects. In military terms, the object of tying rag and netting to a helmet or weapon is to break up the outline and shape so they will not be recognized. Mobius Architects of Poland have used this camouflage concept in their Edge House development – the angles of the roof with inset skylight, with a steep shingled pitch are striking but mimic the quarry location while the outline of the dwelling is deliberately at odds with the viewers expected view of what a house should look like:

post by Dabney Properties, a Richmond corporate housing company.

This “shell house” is from Japan (there they go again) and was designed by Kotaro Ide. Unfortunately, there is no one angle that you can look at this house from and see all the curves and beauty. They saythat the two sections are supposed to represent a conch, but how they do that is beyond me. All I know is with an exterior like that, who cares about the inside? Although I do imagne I would feel a bit exposed without conventonials walls and being surrounded mostly by windows, but at least there’s plenty of sunlight. I find that it’s a nice balance between modern tastes and blending with the landscape.

The Nakagin Capsule Tower in Tokyo is the world’s first capsule-centered piece of architecture built for actual use. This is probably not a new concept to you, but I think it’s rare that when you can actually see the room for yourself. To me, it looks like a room aboard a spaceship. Just imagine, instead of the neighbors across the way in the window, you can see Earth. Fits quite nicely, doesn’t it? Now imagine putting everything you own in an 8 by 12 by 7 ft space.

What’s really cool is that the versatility of the capsules. They can be connected to make larger spaces and are designed to be replaceable, but they haven’t had to replace one since it was completed in 1972. Each capsule is connected to one of the two main shafts by only four high-tension bolts. Only four bolts are keeping you from falling to your death. Plus, knowing everyone loves airplane bathrooms, the designers saw fit to give each room one!

Those Japanese will do just about anything to get everyone else’s attention.