The roof over the second-floor terrace and open living area uses bundled glulam beams, requiring only three interior columns. A 16.5-meter unsupported opening facing the pool employs triple-layered offset beams for strength while forming the ceiling finish.
Precision construction involved designer collaboration and on-site adjustments, with each timber unit taking 30+ minutes to install. The copper-clad exterior—a traditional Japanese material—will weather over time, blending the structure into the landscape.
NOT A HOTEL MINAKAMI TOJI is located in Minakami, Gunma Prefecture, a place where rich natural surroundings coexist with a deep-rooted hot spring culture. Its unique topography, climate, and traditional way of life all contribute to the area’s distinctive character. This project responds to such local conditions through spatial composition and careful selection of materials.
The architecture comprises five residential buildings and one restaurant building, arranged to form a landscape reminiscent of a small village. This configuration—independent yet loosely connected dwellings, much like those found in traditional mountain settlements—spatially reveals layers of time embedded in the land, the quiet of nature, the rhythms of daily life, and the legacy of toji (hot spring healing culture).
As a contemporary interpretation of a log house, the project explores the integration of structure and design. In a traditional log house, the wood itself serves as both the structural framework and the surface expression of the space. Here, the exposed structural timber actively defines the atmosphere of each room. Even the natural aging of the wood is embraced as part of the architecture, lending the spaces a sense of temporality and depth. Materials are treated as elements that “speak”; by listening to their voices, architecture emerges organically.
At the heart of the design is water. A reflecting pool adjacent to the living space acts not only as a tranquil mirror for the surrounding scenery, but also as a mediator between architecture and nature. Water softens the boundary between inside and outside, allowing the presence of nature to be felt across it. This subtle sense of distance enhances the psychological comfort of the space.
NOT A HOTEL MINAKAMI TOJI is a work of landscape-integrated architecture—designed to connect the memory of the place with the emotions of its future. It is an act of creation that simultaneously unravels, deconstructing and reconfiguring the existing landscape to make room for new stories. By listening attentively to the land of Minakami and placing architecture gently upon it, we aim to create a quiet encounter between people and place. Through this project, we propose a way of building that is rooted in the landscape, and inseparable from it.
