‘Japan, the birthplace of the tatami mat, has a long history of modular building. For centuries, the dimensions of these straw pads have dictated the size of rooms, walls, and windows. Picking up where traditional carpenters left off, Yokohama architect Riken Yamamoto has designed a prefabricated aluminum construction system. Ecoms House is the system’s first residential prototype. Developed at the request of SUS Corporation, a manufacturer of aluminum precision machine parts and furniture, the house is located in Saga Prefecture on Kyushu, at the southernmost tip of the Japanese archipelago.’

Read the whole article: www.archrecord.construction.com.

The following text is from the architect:

‘This is a development project for a building with an aluminum structure that could be mass-produced. It started with a request from the firm SUS which produces precision instruments with aluminum frames. Making 1200-square-mm panels at a factory, leaving no process to be executed on site, and proposing a system which enables panels to be assembled with bolted connections, all lead to a construction period and a lower cost.
Our intention in developing an architecture of aluminum is to find a way to achieve a new structural expression which would not be possible with steel. Aluminum is so flexible that it can be extruded to any shape very precisely and easily. The structural wall consists of cross-shaped extruded aluminum panels that have connection joints with a fit system at their edges. The first aluminum house opened in Tosu, Kyushu as a model house (‘Ecoms House’).’

For more pictures visit: www.riken-yamamoto.co.jp.

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