"Ao"and Its Spatial Characteristics in the House:Taking Kawatani House as the Case
After the Middle Ages,a very unique sense of space emerged in Japan.Fumihiko Maki defined it as"Ao".Its unique feature is that it can enrich the shallow space,thus stimulating people's desire to explore the unknown and to expand imagination.Today,this spatial awareness has been continuously developed and applied to the practice of contemporary independent housing.Takahashi Ippei,a rising star in the Japanese architecture industry,has keenly paid attention to this theory and put it into practice in his work-Kawatani House.This paper takes Kawatani House as the case to analyze how"Ao"guides the design,shapes and enriches daily life,meanwhiles,to summarize characteristics of contemporary housing presented under the guidance of this concept.