Rokko Housing I,II, and III
Kobe, Hyogo, Japan · 1999
Photo · © Tadao Ando Architect & Associates
A seminal precedent for hillside collective housing, demonstrating how a rigid concrete structural grid can step down a steep slope to integrate private terraces and green roofs with the natural landscape.
- What we like about this project
- The flat roofs of lower units serve as green terraces and gardens for the units above.
Materials
- exposed-concrete
- glass
- turf
- gravel
Visual identifiers
- stepped-housing
- exposed-concrete-grid
- hillside-architecture
- green-roofs
Style tags
- critical-regionalism
- modernist
- structuralist
Visual tags
- brutalist-influence
- sloped-site
- modular-grid
- collective-housing
- landscape-integration
- Geometry
- A complex, stepped orthogonal grid of concrete frames cascading down a steep hillside, integrated with flat green roofs and open terraces.
- Facade system
- Exposed concrete post-and-beam frames with recessed glazing and open-air terraces.
- Structural guess
- Reinforced concrete frame and shear wall system anchored into the hillside.
- Spatial scale
- Large-scale multi-family residential complex composed of human-scaled modular units.
- Lighting
- Bright, direct daylight casting sharp shadows that accentuate the deep structural grid and stepped volumes.
- Atmosphere
- A rigorous, geometric order harmonizing with the organic density of the surrounding forest.
- Environmental context
- Nestled into a heavily forested, steep hillside adjacent to high-density urban residential blocks.
- Spatial experience
- The architecture climbs the natural slope, creating a series of private terraces and public pathways that offer views over the landscape while maintaining a strong connection to the hillside.
- Composition rhythm
- A repeating modular grid of concrete frames that shifts and steps down diagonally following the topography.
- Style reading
- Japanese Critical Regionalism / Structural Modernism
- Program
- Multi-family residential housing
- Perspective
- Aerial/Site
- Discipline
- architecture
- Materials
- exposed-concrete, glass, turf, gravel
- Visual identifiers
- stepped-housing, exposed-concrete-grid, hillside-architecture, green-roofs
- Style tags
- critical-regionalism, modernist, structuralist
- Visual tags
- brutalist-influence, sloped-site, modular-grid, collective-housing, landscape-integration
- Geometry
- A complex, stepped orthogonal grid of concrete frames cascading down a steep hillside, integrated with flat green roofs and open terraces.
- Facade system
- Exposed concrete post-and-beam frames with recessed glazing and open-air terraces.
- Structural guess
- Reinforced concrete frame and shear wall system anchored into the hillside.
- Spatial scale
- Large-scale multi-family residential complex composed of human-scaled modular units.
- Lighting
- Bright, direct daylight casting sharp shadows that accentuate the deep structural grid and stepped volumes.
- Atmosphere
- A rigorous, geometric order harmonizing with the organic density of the surrounding forest.
- Environmental context
- Nestled into a heavily forested, steep hillside adjacent to high-density urban residential blocks.
- Spatial experience
- The architecture climbs the natural slope, creating a series of private terraces and public pathways that offer views over the landscape while maintaining a strong connection to the hillside.
- Composition rhythm
- A repeating modular grid of concrete frames that shifts and steps down diagonally following the topography.
- Style reading
- Japanese Critical Regionalism / Structural Modernism
- Program
- Multi-family residential housing
- Perspective
- Aerial/Site
- Discipline
- architecture