27/12/2012

Gulliver House by Be-Fun Architects

Considering the Christmas break it would seem this week is finishing before it’s begun, since today has been our first full day back in the office. Nevertheless it’s always good to clear the decks and come through with a fresh line up so I’ve been on the hunt for a little architecture to compliment the film and ceramics that have reached your screens in the past few days. I found exactly the sort of project I was looking for out in the Japanese capital Tokyo, as architect Tadashi Shindo and his team at “Be-Fun Design” have created this beautiful home that embraces a material often considered a foundation of a house as an exterior finish.

The Gulliver build is a four level design which has been finished with a concrete layer on its exterior walls which presents an industrial aesthetic while still feeling rather individual in my opinion. This rare quality the house has really intrigued me, and although from the imagery we have here it could be considered rather stark I think with a little more interior imagination the house could become a remarkable place to call home. I’m a big fan of the quirky elements that Tadashi and his team have included, like the ladder in the fifth image down and the unconventional crisscross of the structure in the first.

Its irregular additions like these that off set the more understated areas, I think it’s a great example of how design can be both pragmatic and playful at the same time. From a personal perspective I’d need to furnish this a little further to feel completely at home, but nothing too dramatic as I’m keen to reduce the material items around me and focus more on my own environment, which is what I believe is intended through the Gulliver house’s design.

Hopefully a few of you will join me in welcoming the ingenuity of Tadashi’s creation into your thoughts, and perhaps have a search around yourself to see what other forward thinking designs he’s been responsible for since starting his own firm five years ago. I have personally really enjoyed having a browse around his portfolio and I’m excited to see what else he’s got planned in the years ahead. As always I’ll leave the link to this webpage just below, for further information or imagery click on through.

www.be-fun.com