INFO






AZUMA TOWER HOUSEFALL 2023
This is a precedent study of the Tower House by Takamitsu Azuma.

The architect’s studio is in the basement, accessible to guests without having to enter the living areas. The floors above each contain the living and kitchen, bathroom, master bedroom and the child’s room towering on top with a rooftop terrace.

Board formed concrete at its roughest untreated state, the house is all acute angles and sharp turns. This betrays a warmth that sunlight brings, shining through numerous windows piercing the solid envelope.


One must be nimble and focused enough
to not trip down the vertiginous concrete
steps.

The house is a continuous piling of rooms
connected through spiraling stairs. No walls
separate the rooms.

It is in this hypervisible microcosm that Rie
Azuma, the architect’s daughter grew up
and continues to live in now.







At its completion, the concrete tower was
considered the “skyscraper of Jingumae”, overshooting
above the adjacent traditional houses.

Today, it has been overtaken by its neighbors,
overshadowing it into a miniature house.

The main facade was cast at a 1:10
scale model. The scale allows for an
experimentation of material properties
and wall assembly of the building.
Recreating the original building method, a
wood form was built, steel mesh rebar and
concrete was poured in. At this thickness,
the concrete remains quite fragile.