記憶の風景 

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何かの作業に没頭するとき、誰かと会話するとき、私たちは家具の配置や窓辺の風景に注意を払っているだろうか？印象的な出来事のあった日の夜には、取るに足らない背景こそが決まって夢に回帰するのはなぜか？ぼんやりと周囲にただよう風景には、意識が直面するリアルな像には還元できない、底知れぬ強度が潜んでいるように思える。埼玉県戸田市南西部、荒川左岸の工場街に、記憶を喚起するような風景をつくりたいと思った。クライアントは、20年ほど前からこの地に拠点を構える空調設備会社で、既存社屋の老朽化に加え、非効率な作業環境の改善が問われていた。スキップフロアを導入し、軒高と気積をしぼり、上下階の視線のつながりや、光と風の動きを活かせるような断面形状を探った。高低差のある各階の床が、内部階段に面する位置には、透過性のある間仕切りが採用された。気温変化や身体的ニーズに合わせ、間仕切りを開閉すれば空調負荷を軽減でき、室内から見通す風景の変化を楽しめる。

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解像度を上げすぎない

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主要なワークススペースのある2階には、植栽に囲われたテラスが張り出す。南西からの日差しを抑制し、隣接する工場とのあいだの緩衝帯となる。テラス沿いの植栽や、遠方に広がる緑樹と同様に、工場街の風景や機械音までも等価に引き受ける。周囲を取り巻く環境は身体との関係から再解釈された。外壁の主要な採光面と内部間仕切りは、ポリカーボネート複層板でつくられた。各階に必要な耐風圧強度や、望ましい透過率は異なり、場所ごと多様な解像度で風景が立ち現れる。植栽と黒ずんだサイディング壁、荒川の土手と錆びついたトタン屋根、階段越しに半階ずれた室内同士が、同率の解像度で調停される。工場のノイズが通奏低音となり風景と交わる。弛緩した風景は、想像力の降り立つ余白を生み、記憶と現実のあいだを移ろう。

A Landscape of Memories

When we immerse ourselves in work or engage in conversation, do we truly pay attention to the arrangement of furniture or the view beyond the window? Why is it that, on nights following significant events, it is often the most trivial of backdrops that resurface in our dreams? The hazy landscapes that drift quietly in the background seem to harbor an indefinable intensity, one that cannot be reduced to the clear images our consciousness confronts.

In the southwestern part of Toda City in Saitama Prefecture, amidst the factory district along the left bank of the Arakawa River, we sought to create a landscape that evokes such memories. The client, an air-conditioning equipment company operating in the area for over 20 years, faced the dual challenges of an aging office building and an inefficient workspace. A skip-floor configuration was introduced, reducing roof height and volume while enabling visual connections between upper and lower floors and promoting the movement of light and air. Transparent partitions were installed at points where the staggered floors face the central internal staircase. These partitions can be opened or closed to suit temperature changes or personal needs, reducing the air-conditioning load while allowing occupants to enjoy the evolving indoor and outdoor views.

 

Avoiding Excessive Resolution

The second floor, which serves as the primary workspace, features a terrace enveloped by greenery. This terrace mitigates sunlight from the southwest and serves as a buffer between the building and adjacent factories. By embracing the surrounding elements—such as the terrace’s plantings, the distant greenery, the industrial landscapes, and even the mechanical noises—the environment is reinterpreted through its relationship with the human body.

The primary light-facing exterior walls and interior partitions are made from multi-layered polycarbonate panels. Since each floor requires different levels of wind resistance and transparency, the landscape appears at varying resolutions depending on the location. Plantings, weathered siding, the Arakawa embankment, rusted corrugated rooftops, and staggered interiors glimpsed across the staircase are all mediated at a consistent level of resolution. The noise from the factories intertwines with the landscape as a basso continuo. This softened landscape creates spaces of imagination, inviting shifts between memory and reality.