Because of the New Years holidays not so much progress had been made nevertheless the facade was almost finished. The front door is now being made and the material for the two cudes that stick out of the facade had arrived. Looking forwards to next week to see all this hopefully in place.
The first layer of the facade boarding was painted with Osmo in four colors, each corresponding to one zone and dominated by the high side lights at each corner of the house. The four colors are red, yellow, blue and geen. The red cedar will weather to a gray color leaving a hint of color in the joint. The design idea is not so much to create a strong expression with the colors, no instead only subtle accents in place where one wouldn’t expect color to reside, such as these joint or the edges of the shelfs in the interior.
The substrate boarding has been installed and the first impression is that the house look as an exact, but enlarged, copy of the model we made. Also the roof is now fully completed and the seamlessness of the FRP finish looks perfect in contrast to the red cedar wood finish of the walls. Als the canopy above the entrance was being installed. Initially designed in galvanized steel it was executed in stainless steel to reduce labor cost. 
The work on the top-coat was finished today. Also the ceiling in the center of the living area was completed.
Gradually the top-coat is being applied and the roof is nearing completion.
The FRP is applied in several layers and is almost finished except for the top-coat. Inside the insulation for the floor has been installed and work on the boarding is in progress.
No obvious big changes but gradual progress progress is made.
The roof will be finished in Fiber Reinforced Plastic, a type of water barrier often used in Japan for balconies. But also to make bath tubs and yachts. To satisfy the level of fire protectiveness required the substrate is to be in two layers of gypsum board and the top-coat also needs to be fire resistant. At this stage the substrate gypsum board is being installed. Because of expected rainy weather the carpenter has made this light weight temporary cover to protect the materials against moist. Actually this “glass house” like roof space landscaped with the four triangles of the high side light, is quite beautiful.
Further progress made on instaling the vapour barrier on the exterior and the slats for the ventilated cavity. Also the carpenter had made the special detail for the roof drain.
The vapour barrier and the foundation insulation were being installed. Also the insulation was being placed between the post of the exterior walls. This is a wood fiber based insulation system developed in Germany. In addition to this soft wood fiber insulation placed between the post there will be an additional 40mm hard pressed exterior insulation. This all will be finished with a wood slat finish with a ventilated cavity. The slats in the foto with the curved cut-outs will be used to create this ventilated cavity.
Progress has been made on installing the stuctural plywood to stabelize the structure. This is the boarding that can be seen on the outside. Also the insulation material was delivered on site.
The whole wood structure is delivered on site pre-cut and is installed in a matter of a day. This is the first time the whole volume of the house can be perceived. The proportions look pretty much as I had imagined.
All 
水曜日の時点；現場の状況です。
This new book The Professional Interior Designers, 27 Interior Designers, published by GAP JAPAN, features an interview with me. The question posed was to discuss some remarkable differences between Japan and Europe that impact the prefailing direction with 
regard to the design of restaurants and retail spaces in these different cultures. The book opens with an interview with the wellknown interior designer Yukio Hashimoto and the pages inbetween these interviews are dedicated to the introduction of the work of 27 interior designers and gives a good impression of current Interior design trends in Japan.
The site had been sitting idle for quite a while and is what became of it, a wilderness. The client put in great effort to clear the site and on the 12th of August the groundbreaking ceremony could take place on a clean site.
The Site (November 2012)
On Friday 25th of July the building permit was granted for our project S-HOUSE in Tsukuba. Today on Sunday 27th of July the construction contract was signed. We are now looking forward to the works to start on site at the end of August. But in the meantime the site needs to be cleared as it has become a wilderness in the meantime.
昨日学校を終わってから耐震住宅フェアを参加するために仙台に行きました。今週末「夢メッセ宮城」で行われている展示会です。耐震構造、小エネなどのテーマで復興住宅の実現を進めるためのイヴェントです。復興住宅推進団体グローバルアーキテクツエイドの活動として参加しています。
今日は色んな話ができていい一日でした。明日もたくさん興味のある人々が会えるようにと思います。
On June 15th 2014 finally the construction contract was signed for the construction of S-House in Tsukuba. A private residence of about 84 sqm, designed on a square footprint. Its most obvious features are the four “ears”, large triangle shapes sticking outof the roof and extending from windows shifted upwards to become high side lights. This brings in natural light deeper into the house, stricking and bouncing off the walls and allows views of the sky. The roof will be white in FRP and the walls in wood (yaki-sugi) with between the slats colored slats to add texture to the walls.
「ねぶたの家・ワラッセ」の工事を行った時、初めて訪問した長野の善光寺。久しぶりにご挨拶してきました。
今年のゴルデンウィークの連休は長野県にて、今までに見たことのない素晴らしい花見ができました。まるで桃源郷のよう。新緑の中、淡い～濃いピンクや白・・・。きれいでした。
先週の金曜・土曜で住民説明会を行いました。 あまり大きな規模ではない賃貸併用住宅ですが、市の条例に
日本建築家協会の会報誌「Bulletin」2013年7月号に海外レポートが掲載されています。よかったら、読んでくださいね。カリフォルニアのユニークな取り組みを紹介しています。今後の日本のよい参考になるはず。
http://www.jia-kanto.org/members/bulletin/2013/07/10a.html
With ICS College of arts we did a 50 min lesson on design and with the overall theme “Global or know your country”. The students had to explain to me with visuals and in English what they thought is the best design in Japan. All the time I had to do as if I do not understand Japanese! They came up with some pretty good examples. In all a great experience.
「本物のグローバルって！？」
千葉県立市川工業高等学校インテリア科2年生のみなさんに、授業を行ってきました。今回のテーマは「グローバル」！私のほか、細川先生、李さんによる英語の授業。高校生の皆さんには「ニッポンイチのデザイン」を各グループで選んでもらい、それを英語でプレゼンテーションしてもらっています。この授業を通してICSの講師陣が伝えたかったこと、それは！？ 答えはブログの最後に締めくくりに書いてあります。是非ご覧ください。
「本物のグローバルとは、○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○」。
▼ICSカレッジオブアーツブログの記事はコチラ
Interesting to learn about the state of housing in UK, but also lessons to be learned by other countries. Japan is well-known for its small houses and apartments often with windows looking out onto blank neighbouring walls. Many offices are artificially lit. The good news is that creating better places and spaces for humans also safes on energy use! Here what the UK government is doing;
The Government launched a consultation to help it make crucial decisions about the future of our homes including minimum standards for space, energy, security and natural light.
今年のICS College of Arts の年賀状のグラフィックデザインを担当させて頂きました。50周年のクロキ帳のデザインを進歩して日本文化に合うおめでたい赤を使いました。
、
お久しぶりにArchDailyに出た、ねぶたの家・ワラッセ：
Material Inspiration: 10 Projects Inspired by Metal
http://www.archdaily.com/458988/material-inspiration-10-projects-inspired-by-metal/
Architecture & Energy Japan Berkeley Workshop と一緒に参加した末光さんの展示です。見に行きました。とてもよかったです。環境的に仏に見えないところから発生した建築の視点から新しい建築を生まれそうと思われます。
この展示はおすすめです！
9月27日より南青山のプリズミックギャラリーで始まった
「末光弘和＋末光陽子／SUEP.展 － 自然循環系の一部としての建築」に行ってきました。
私たちがこれまで手がけて来た環境をテーマにした作品を通して、風・水・熱など、目に見えない自然環境を可視化しながら、自然循環系と建築の関係を表現し、環境の時代の新しい建築のあり方を示唆しています。 展示では、環境シュミレーションによって可視化された表面温度や風の流れ等を模型やパネルにより建物と一緒に表現し、新しい形の模型や図面を展示しています
Study Model 1:30 scale made for the exhibition showing the design for the energy efficient house in Tsukuba that we are designing now. The model was on display during the 50th anniversary exhibition at ICS College of Arts.