Posted: October 30, 2010
Foundations
Visiting a Kobe residence designed by one of my favorite architects.
In December of 2009 I was invited to visit the home of my friend’s parents in the Okuike neighborhood of Ashiya, near Kobe. Their parents had recently moved to a new house several blocks away in the same neighborhood.
On the way there, my friend took me to see their old house.
The Tudor-style building was large, well maintained, and had a traditional Japanese-style garden in the back. Other than that, it wasn't unique.
However, right next door was an amazing concrete and glass structure beautifully integrated into the side of the hill.
I was curious about its origins, (and had my suspicions as to who the architect was), and was anxious to find out more about the building.
Later, I asked my friend’s father about his former neighbor’s house and what he knew about it, but he just gave me a confused look. He was a very conservative 82 year-old with a firm sense of what a house should look like.
I asked him again, trying to be as clear as possible, about the concrete house that was next door to his old home.
Then he remembered, and with a dismissive wave of his hand said, “Oh that. They never finished it. Those are just the foundations.”
For more information visit...
Koshino House is now an art gallery open to the public, (by appointment). It's definitely worth a visit if you're in the Kansai area.
Post Update: November 20, 2021
My friend "R.M." arranged for a private tour of the gallery on May 14, 2021, and we visited Koshino House together.
Hiroko Koshino raised her family in this house, and some of her children's heights are recorded on a cement column near the kitchen.
