Get a house, Share the house

　Kurosawa kawara-ten is located in a Kougaidanchi of more than 400 detached houses called Yoshinodai Danchi in Nishikuniyoshi, Ichihara City, Chiba Prefecture. Originally built as a housing complex for workers of Kawasaki Steel (currently JFE Steel), the Kawatetsu housing complex and the Yoshino housing complex, which is a little narrower, have been created after opening up a small mountain forest. As mentioned in other chapters, the first generation who moved 40 years ago is almost 65 years old in most households, and the offspring generation has left the complex and is in the vicinity of their workplace and other contexts. If this situation continues for the next 10 years, it is inevitable that it will become a marginal settlement, and it will convert to a ghost town full of empty houses that are no longer used. The biggest problem with this increase in unoccupied houses in Japan is that it itself is a problem of our legal system, since it is not possible to have access to the heirs, and also the fact that there is no penalty for neglecting it. For this reason, no matter how much the people around these empty houses who actually live or are involved in the estate want to use them, they can’t either touch it or negotiate. In the past, people moved to the suburbs in search of that dream old house, that land and buildings that have been maintained so hard to enhance with mowing and summer festivals, and with similar families of similar ages gathered from various places, and if you're trying to get rid of it by the outside powers of governmental demarcation and industrial changes, it's a story that doesn't endure too much. And as a second-generation concerned person, a representative of kurosawa kawara-ten has set up an office at his parents' home in this housing estate and is trying to figure out somehow the appearance of tomorrow's Kougaidanchi.

　In such circumstances, when the house which was owned by a neighbor and her mother had not been used for several years and became an empty house after she passed away, she decided to take over the detached house and its garden. It would be an unbelievable situation for urban people to get a detached house with a garden for free. However, the price of land in a Kougaidanchi that was acquired around 40 years ago in the south of Chiba City is often less than 10,000 yen/tsubo($30/m2), and if it is a second-hand property of about the same age, it is often the case that the building itself is impossible to sell. In the first place, it is almost the same as free in the real estate trading that is sold for tens of millions of yen, but it still does not sell and it does not bother to sell and clean up and procedures, so it is useful even a little There are a certain number of people who want to donate to the government. In the first place, it is the same good as a real estate product that is traded for tens of millions of yen, but still you might not want to put it for sale because it might not sell or it's cumbersome to clean up and do the procedures, so there are a certain number of people who would want to donate to the government if they are useful. There are many heirs who actually don't plan to use it, or at least say they don't use it, so most people would like to let go of it because it takes a lot of time and money to clean up, dismantle, or register to sell it, the annual tax costs a lot of money and a lot of time for garden cleaning and maintenance.

　In kurosawa kawara-ten, we decided to renovate the inherited vacant house into the house of our representative and the guest house that can be used by residents of the housing complex. We decided to call it the Kitaguchi House to express our gratitude for the memory of those who we received it from. If you think that 500 houses are about the same size as a tower condominium, you can see that there are actually no facilities in the Kougaidanchi that are naturally found in such complexes. There is only a meeting place, except library, party lounge, gym, parking lot and guest rooms. Of these, the guest room is a mechanism that can keep a space for visitors that is difficult in a limited space of a condominium, but at first glance, it may seem that it is unrelated to a detached house with plenty of space. However, if the number of rooms was precise before the children left, if the children get married, have grandchildren, and all the siblings gather together during the New Year holidays, of course, there is not enough space. Of course, sleeping together in a huddle is fun, but it's not a bad thing to have a space where you can stay overnight, this would be good news for those who have lost their room after leaving home. The representative of kurosawa kawara-ten who sometimes brings my family back home, but when he is away, it is thought that it would be nice to have friends from the housing complex using it.

　We think the near future of Kogaidanchi should have the vector of another direction from the outside to the housing complex, not commuting and going to school, or not the offspring leaving their parents houses. As people and things enter and come from the outside, the feeling of stagnation and village-like stress is reduced. We think there will be a situation where new information and things are always updated somewhere, creating an environment of freshness. To that end, it seems that it is appropriate to start with a situation where the second generation from the housing complex visits their parents' houses more often as a first step in changing the vector toward the Kougaidanchi. It ’s not so bad to go home once in a while, and for those in-law families who sometimes stay home with their niece, nephew, or relatives, they can take a distance just only at bedtime. Isn't a guesthouse that can be quite effective?

　How can we make other vectors from outside? If you think about it, kurosawa kawara-ten itself has many people, including representatives, from outside the Kougaidanchi. If that is the case, it would be one way to be able to conduct economic activities in the housing complex. Part-time students, manufacturers and trading company salesmen, and sometimes clients often come to our office for meetings, and in fact, the office has become a little small. Therefore, in kurosawa kawara-ten we are thinking about the effective use of vacant houses. As a premise, it is a complex that is an urbanization adjustment area, so it is difficult to convert to a building with just an office, but if several empty houses scattered in the complex are part of the residence and office for the staff, we believe that it can be used quite vigorously as a decentralized office with functions scattered throughout the entire estate. As a result, the office staff can move from the outside, the student staff can visit frequently, and from there, the younger generation whose friends and acquaintances secondly visit, so we can create a situation of more people coming to the Kougaidanchi.

　The functions of distributed offices are, for example, since we are in trouble because the number of books and catalogs has increased, we have created a library, an atelier for making models and mockups, a meeting room for all kinds of meetings, a dining room for meals, and a resource room for stocking material samples will also be needed. In addition, the desk space for each staff member is quite small, so there is no space for a separate study or a space for resting or relaxing, with a couch or a little bed, which would contribute to the work to become more comfortable. Since these spaces are distributed, the staff will inevitably have to walk outside, from one building to another, and will naturally become a figure in the complex. If people walk, communication with residents will naturally occur, and the Kougaidanchi will become more vibrant. We also believe that by making some of these office functions available to the residents, such as a guesthouse, it is possible to enhance the attractiveness of the housing complex. If residents read the books in the library, they may deepen their understanding of contemporary architecture and urban planning, and be able to have a constructive talk together. If residents can participate in a study session in the office about architecture, it may become a housing complex very familiar with architecture as lifelong learning. The atelier can be a fab with tools and large printers. There are a variety of tools other than architectural models and mockups, so you may not even occupy house storage if you only use it occasionally. Sewing machine, impact driver, solder kite, round saw, and tripod that is about 2m high. It would be useful to have something in the housing complex that you don't use every month but you want to use them once a year. The dining space can be a coffee shop. Anyone can use it, and the eyes of outside customers who have nothing to do with the complex will help its residents as a stimulus to keep the house clean. In this way, the places that we need to create will ooze out into the estate, boosting the natural charm and appeal of the Kougaidanchi. This is the kind of space we want to create.

Macbook and Coffee

　In fact, if an architectural design office does not require a large drafter as it used to be, models are not the only means of consideration. With a thin, light and powerful laptop computer, CAD drawings and 3D modeling can be done anywhere, no matter where you are. Considering a small office, where the work is often on-site for construction management, it is true that a considerable amount of time is spent outside the office. Now that the cost of cloud storage services and data communication has been reduced, the data between staff members is constantly updated, so there is no need to build a large system. Of course, each staff member also has a phone, and if you use a voice chat application, or if you have an unlimited call plan, you don't even have to pay for the phone. You don't need the concept of an additional telephone handset for extensions. The days when offices should have been wired or consolidated due to equipment have already ended. It is possible to work without being tied to a place, like a nomad worker. We are starting with this way of working rather because it already feels natural for younger generations. However, the importance of actual meetings and the amount of information exchanged through it, in parts related to emotional connections, is the reason that a location still has a great advantage is a bottleneck that has become visible as cloud work progresses and is a problem to consider.

　If so, if the functions of the office are scattered in the housing complex, you can come to meet me in a few minutes after calling, or you can concentrate on the work if you need it. I think it will be a very balanced environment. Assuming that the Kougadanchi is the same size as a little tower apartment, you can imagine it as a little office building. If each renovated vacant house is a room for a small working group, it allows the creation of a group of companies in a very sparse and spacious environment with respect to area and volumetric density. There will be less stress on people's mental health, and walking through the green streets of a housing complex for a meeting will be a great change.

　This situation may be very similar to the atmosphere of an old university campus in Tokyo, where more buildings were added. Through the gates of the university site, students are engaged in various researches, discussions, and projects at the same time inside and outside the school building, while securing a place of great interest. This is an improvement in the student ’s sense of belonging to the university, enriching comfortability, and it can be thought that it plays a role in encouraging activities. Wherever you are, you can create your own place, the student density is moderate, there is no stress, and there is no constant monitoring by professors and managers, so it fosters self-reliance and self-esteem. When Yoshinodai-danchi becomes kurosawa kawara-ten town, each empty house becomes a part of the Campus, and the creative activities and new projects are promoted by the independent activities and collaboration of the staff. It will also encourage new ideas and activities outside it.

private and business

　The proposed new estate here is actually on the premise of a lifestyle where the people living there are very motivated and very active in their work, and there is no refusal to live with no distinction between private and work time. The design office staff loves architecture, when they go on a trip, the destination is a famous architecture reference, and even if they dine in a cafe or restaurant, they are worried about its interior, city, or architecture, someone who always thinks about design, from product to graphic.

　Kougaidanchi of tomorrow is predicated on seeking such people. In that case, it may seem like a terrible environment to very traditional business company workers, but isn't their labor essentially like that? Even quantitative labor, such as factory labor, cleaning, maintenance inspections, and office work, which can be divided by time and whose productivity is very measurable, will not be free from ambition and work. Hard work, of course, is based on the premise that problems such as overwork are being taken care of, but it should never be denied. There may be Kougaidanchi for agricultural production corporations who are constantly thinking about how to create better conditions through trial and error regarding productivity, quality, and further expansion of sales channels. There might also be a housing complex where there are many artists who can immerse themselves in production because there is no rent, and artists who work day and night for the next solo exhibition and craft artists who are pursuing production for the next market to open might exist. There may be a housing complex with an up-and-coming design office that is responsible for the next generation that always has light in some homes when working overseas.

　Rather than ignoring work-life balance and labor standards laws, working actively and hard, constantly creating new things and constantly trying new things always improves the place. The power of renewal will work, and as a result, it will be a place that will continue to metabolize. If the desire to make our environment always good, the desire to make it in good condition, and the compulsory force to do so have stopped working, the renewal of the current housing estate has been renewed. We believe that this vibrant work element works very effectively.