Horizon House
First Prize Winner of the 3rd LIXIL International University Architectural Competition
Designed by a team of eight GSD students, Horizon House was awarded First Prize in an international student competition sponsored by LIXIL Corporation in April 2013, and finished its construction in November 2013. The competition asked students to consider the future of sustainable living in rural Hokkaido (Japan), based on the theme “Retreat in Nature.” Horizon House was conceived as a process for embracing local and seasonal qualities of place, providing a 360 degree view to the landscape, and reflecting an expanded understanding of ecological boundaries. Sourcing, lifespan, and energy implications of construction materials were incorporated by using salvaged or locally harvested wood products, even in the foundations system, reducing to a minimum embodied carbon impacts. In Horizon House the thermal experience of the inhabitant is linked to the surface of the floor, which provide both radiative heating and cooling using a wood stove in winter and underground pipe and thermal mass storage in summer.
Student Team
Carlos Cerezo Davila (MDes ’13), Matthew Conway (MArch I ’15), Robert Daurio (MArch II ’13), Ana Garcia Puyol (MDes ’14), Mariano Gomez Luque (MArch II ’13), Natsuma Imai (MArch I ’15), Takuya Iwamura (MLA ’14), and Thomas Sherman (MDes ’14)