Rokko Housing I and II
Kobe, Hyogo, Japan · 1993
Photo · © Tadao Ando Architect & Associates
A premier precedent for hillside terraced housing, demonstrating how a modular concrete grid can adapt to steep topography while maintaining structural clarity and integration with nature.
- What we like about this project
- A single, dramatic concrete diagonal beam spans across the central stair void.
Materials
- exposed-concrete
- glass
- aluminum-window-frames
Visual identifiers
- stepped-terrace
- exposed-concrete-grid
- hillside-architecture
- monumental-staircase
Style tags
- brutalist
- modernist
- structuralist
Visual tags
- brutalist
- hillside-housing
- modular-grid
- terraced-housing
- japanese-modernism
- Geometry
- A stepped, terraced grid of concrete frames climbing a steep hillside. The structure is composed of repeating cubic modules that shift and stack, integrated with a central monumental staircase.
- Facade system
- Exposed concrete post-and-beam frame with recessed sliding glass doors.
- Structural guess
- Reinforced concrete frame anchored into the hillside slope.
- Spatial scale
- Multi-story residential complex scaled to the hillside, featuring a monumental pedestrian staircase scaling several stories.
- Lighting
- Bright, direct daylight casting sharp shadows that accentuate the depth of the concrete frames and recessed window bands.
- Atmosphere
- A rigorous, monumental concrete structure harmonizing with the wild, organic growth of the hillside.
- Environmental context
- Built directly into a heavily forested, steep hillside with dense green foliage flanking the concrete structure.
- Spatial experience
- The building climbs the natural slope, creating a dramatic vertical ascent alongside the residential units, where private terraces overlook the landscape.
- Composition rhythm
- A repeating grid of concrete beams and columns offset diagonally to follow the slope, punctuated by dark window bands.
- Style reading
- Japanese Brutalist Modernism
- Program
- Multi-family residential housing
- Perspective
- Exterior Facade
- Discipline
- architecture
- Materials
- exposed-concrete, glass, aluminum-window-frames
- Visual identifiers
- stepped-terrace, exposed-concrete-grid, hillside-architecture, monumental-staircase
- Style tags
- brutalist, modernist, structuralist
- Visual tags
- brutalist, hillside-housing, modular-grid, terraced-housing, japanese-modernism
- Geometry
- A stepped, terraced grid of concrete frames climbing a steep hillside. The structure is composed of repeating cubic modules that shift and stack, integrated with a central monumental staircase.
- Facade system
- Exposed concrete post-and-beam frame with recessed sliding glass doors.
- Structural guess
- Reinforced concrete frame anchored into the hillside slope.
- Spatial scale
- Multi-story residential complex scaled to the hillside, featuring a monumental pedestrian staircase scaling several stories.
- Lighting
- Bright, direct daylight casting sharp shadows that accentuate the depth of the concrete frames and recessed window bands.
- Atmosphere
- A rigorous, monumental concrete structure harmonizing with the wild, organic growth of the hillside.
- Environmental context
- Built directly into a heavily forested, steep hillside with dense green foliage flanking the concrete structure.
- Spatial experience
- The building climbs the natural slope, creating a dramatic vertical ascent alongside the residential units, where private terraces overlook the landscape.
- Composition rhythm
- A repeating grid of concrete beams and columns offset diagonally to follow the slope, punctuated by dark window bands.
- Style reading
- Japanese Brutalist Modernism
- Program
- Multi-family residential housing
- Perspective
- Exterior Facade
- Discipline
- architecture