Azuma House (Row House)

Tadao Ando – Row House in Sumiyoshi, Osaka Japan, 1976

Row House a Sumiyoshi (住 吉 の 長 屋 Sumiyoshi no Nagaya), also called Azuma House (邸 邸 Japanese), it is a private residence in Sumiyoshi-ku, Osaka, Japan.
Tadao Ando designed it in his early career. The house has no windows to the outside but the rooms overlook an internal courtyard with a transversal walkway.

The relationship that Ando establishes with nature is one of the points that distinguishes his work. Convinced that the relationship between it and the human being is fundamental for the latter, it has established in the construction a modality of participation of the inhabitants in nature. In winter with cold and rain, or in the heat of summer, the inhabitants of the house should go outside, as they must cross the open patio to access the kitchen and bathroom, feeling the wind or rain on their faces or being able to watch to the sky.
The open patio is an "oasis" in the bustle of the city; a place in contact with nature inside the house, which allows light, air, rain, cold or heat to enter, to watch the clouds go by or look at the sun; a window that allows you to live with nature.
"….. No matter how institutionally or technologically advanced society becomes, a home where nature can be felt is the ideal environment for me to live in ……"
Tadao Ando