Motives for renovation:
Old folk houses are often associated with being inconvenient, dark, and cold. However, I think that by exercising a degree of ingenuity, such old houses are capable of providing more comfortable and pleasant living spaces than modern houses. To realize this concept, we bought and renovated a folk house. There was also a financial reason, since it would be quicker to renovate an old house than to build a new one. We then decided to do as much of the work as possible ourselves, which we thought would be fun since it was a house we had actually created ourselves, rather than one we had purchased as a product.

Things we considered in planning and building:
(1) We came up with a design for a house that incorporates adequate ventilation and sunlight, by creating a big difference in the links of each space with minimal changes, while also keeping the structure of the beams and columns from the old folk house. More specifically,
1. On the south of the building, an open ceiling space surrounded by lattice walls was created with a loft in the upper part, comprising the first floor, second floor, and the attic, all linked in a nested space.
2. Large windows were installed on the north side and space created on the axis, stretching horizontally from the entrance on the south toward the woods and the creek outside.
(2) The building has been finished with natural materials including wooden boards and earthen walls, exposing the building’s original wooden framework by removing artificial building materials from both the interior and exterior.
(3) We created items such as a kitchen table, floor panels, a desk, and storages box using materials that were left out when breaking down, including Japanese zelkova, local pine, and cedar logs, meaning we did not waste any materials.
(4) We took part in the building work by finding out what we could do, including breaking down, producing furniture and fittings, and painting, rather than leaving everything to the carpenters.