Transition House

This project involved connecting two adjacent apartments in Paris to create a residential unit.
This house was required to be the client’s residence, but also an office for collaborating with colleagues and a space for presentations to business partners.
 
When the two existing units were connected, the existing space was divided into a long space facing the road in front and an area on the other side facing the courtyard where the existing pipes run.
Therefore, without changing the location of the plumbing, it was decided to divide the space into two major zones: a highly private zone on the quiet courtyard side facing south, and a zone with connections to others on the busy road side with open views and plenty of light.
Rather than separating them with a single door, a transition space was inserted between the two zones, creating a psychologically comfortable sense of distance, as if one were leaving the main house and going to a detached building.
The space connects the main rooms, and is given a form and material that works to change the psychology of people who pass through it.
The design is given an expression that blurs the historical and regional background and blends various elements together, incorporating the contradictory themes of continuity that connects rooms with different characteristics and uses, and discontinuity that creates a switching sequence.
 
Even if the functions of the main rooms change over time, the ambiguity of the transitional spaces that connect them fosters a sense of universality, and we aimed to create a home that can withstand the changes of wind and snow, like the streets of Paris.

＞Japanese