The official name of this property is "Villa S". It got its name from the Sengokubara area of the Hakone village, in which it was built. But it seems no less probable that S is a derivative of the English "secret": from the street side, the house looks very mysterious and secretive.
The plot itself suggested an unusual compositional solution to the architect. In plan, it has a square shape, and along the perimeter it is surrounded by buildings of other owners, which come close to its borders. In an effort to protect the privacy of his customers and at the same time not deprive them of space, Shigeru Ban proposed to build a square volume that occupies almost the entire site. And in order to prevent the new house from ending up with its counterparts in a delicate window-to-window situation, it was decided to completely abandon the openings.
Instead, a teardrop-shaped courtyard appeared inside the villa, around which all functional areas were located. From the courtyard, which is 15 meters in diameter, the living quarters are separated by glass panels, which, on the one hand, provide them with a sufficient amount of daylight, and on the other, make the border between the interior and the open-air space more conditional. And in the living room, these panels (there are a total of eight) can also slide, allowing residents to go out into the fresh air at any time.
The main structural element here are L-shaped wooden beams, which radiate from the center of the composition like rays, holding the spectacular pitched roof. Due to the different heights of these elements, the height of the roof also changes - from 2.4 meters it grows to 7.5 meters, allowing you to design two full floors where you need it.
