As mentioned, the Japanese by and large once had a strong sense of community and connection to their neighbors – a connection that was gradually lost as the population grew, and space grew limited. As urbanites were forced into smaller and smaller living spaces built out of the concrete jungle, their ancient, sacred connection to nature was gradually muted as well.
There’s a handful of exciting community housing projects in Japan that manage to shift the paradigm, and bring nature and the connection to the community back in style.
Keyaki House
Keyaki House is a concrete, five-story building with rooftop gardens and vine-covered balconies and vertical surfaces. On property is an original 150-year old traditional house, which is used as the residents’ shared common space and communal meeting room – all set in a private woodland in a quiet neighborhood of Setagaya-ku.
Completed in 2003, this project houses 15 families. It gets its name from the property owner’ favorite tree (which he climbed as a boy!), an 80-foot Japanese Zelkova tree (Keyaki in Japanese). It’s the perfect embodiment of an environmentally-based symbiotic cooperative dwelling. The total area is about 2000 square meters, and has successfully merged three distinct components including new-style shared housing (the common house), a newly-built cooperative-style condominium and the original owner’s own residence. How does it all pan out for most residents? They describe it as feeling like they are “living alone, but also living as seven people”.
As Keyata House proves, there is a way to strike that delicate balance and find a new way of live, which is reactive to the local community spirit and in tune with nature.
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