Located near Okunoin on Mount Koya in Wakayama Prefecture, this residence stands within an environment shaped by both spiritual practice and severe climatic conditions.

Chosen by Kobo Daishi Kukai as a place for ascetic training, Mount Koya is known not only for its religious significance, but also for its harsh natural environment.

During the depths of winter, temperatures can fluctuate by nearly 20°C within a single day, causing rapid freeze-thaw cycles that place considerable stress on architecture.

Life on Mount Koya is not only about spirituality; adapting to the environment itself becomes a form of spiritual discipline.

This project was designed as a residence for a young monk and his family, reinterpreting the traditional relationship between the *kuri* — the kitchen and living quarters of a temple — and the *garan*, the central temple compound found in Buddhist temple architecture.

 

The exterior responds to the landscape and religious context of Mount Koya through restraint rather than expression.

The building is composed as a simple rectangular volume, and by minimizing openings toward the street, it maintains a measured distance from the outside world.

The floor plan is based on a rectangle measuring 5.4 meters on the short side and 14.5 meters on the long side, divided longitudinally into three blocks measuring 5.2 meters, 5.7 meters, and 3.6 meters respectively.

Only the central block is designed as a single-story volume with an atrium, while the blocks at either end adopt split-level configurations of one-and-a-half and two stories. This arrangement allows a variety of living spaces to be accommodated within a limited building volume.

 

The one-and-a-half-story block near the entrance contains the bedroom, study, walk-in closet, and restroom, with the upper portion utilized as a loft.

Meanwhile, the two-story block at the rear incorporates a semi-basement condition, with the lower floor embedded 1.5 meters into the ground.

This area contains the bathroom, dressing room, study, and library.

By locating the wet areas close to the earth, the design utilizes geothermal stability to moderate rapid outdoor temperature fluctuations and maintain a more stable thermal environment during winter.

This architectural response emerged from the severe freezing conditions characteristic of Mount Koya’s climate.

At the center of the house, the atrium space functions as the living, dining, and kitchen area, rising to a ceiling height of 4.2 meters.

It forms both the spatial and spiritual center of the residence.

​

While the word *garando* commonly refers to emptiness or hollowness, this project sought to embody the Buddhist notion of *garando* (伽藍洞).

An empty space that nevertheless possesses a center.

Organized around the kitchen as a contemporary interpretation of the *kuri*, the house was conceived as a place where daily life and spiritual practice, as well as family life and religious life, gently overlap.

While referencing the traditional relationship between *kuri* and *garan* found in temple architecture, the project ultimately seeks a contemporary residential form adapted to modern life and the severe winter climate of Mount Koya.