STANDING ON CEREMONY

摘要

A couple of hours north of Tokyo lies Lake Chuzenji, a pristine and placid body of water rimmed by mountains. Prom the town of Chugushi on the lake's eastern edge, a narrow shoreline road leads to the eighth-century Chuzenji Buddhist temple. Discreetly along the way is On the Water, an intricately crafted guest house by major Japanese firm Nikken Sekkei. The house was an unusual commission for Mkken Sekkei, known for skyscrapers and stadiums. The project was led by Tomohiko Yamanashi, who oversees a 150-person design team and heads Mkken Sekkei's 40-person technology division. Given the demands on his time, Yamanashi can only take on one such bespoke project each year. The organising principle of the house is ceremony. The client, an executive at a Tokyo-based multinational corporation, entertains business partners at the house, and the architecture helps to choreograph the guest's experience. Yamanashi adopted a linear scheme to control what the visitor experiences, and in what order, but twisted the plan into a spiral to lengthen the route through the building. He explained the 'entrance ceremony' he designed while taking me through the house.