Ginzan Bath House "Shirogane Yu"

415-1 Ginzanshinhata Kita, Obanazawa-shi, Yamagata, Japan
2001.07
Public bath house
63.24m2

The Ginzan Bath House is a public bathhouse for both residents and visitors.
The Ginzan Bath House is a historic hotspring district along the Ginzan River in a deep valley, where 20 wooden ryokans are aligned.

Since the leveled ground of the area is limited, the wooden buildings are 3 or 4 story high, which creates a quite unique scenery compared to other regions in Japan which are dominated by the horizontal wooden architecture. The site of this public bath is therefore very narrow. The width of the front road measures about 2 m. Also, the depth of the size is only 2 to 6m.

We thus felt a great need to design spaces of communication between the natural space of the river, the transportation corridor of the road, and the architectural space of the actual onsen. If the architecture is separated from the road with a thick wall, both the space of the road and the architectural space will loose the sense of depth overall creating an oppressive atmosphere. It was clear that a separation between nature and architecture had to be as ambiguous as possible, allowing those spaces to interact and influence while at the same time marking the boundary between the two functions.

Our proposal was therefore to apply a wooden louver as a wall between the architecture, the street and the river to merge those two spaces. Furthermore, the louver is supposed to be moveable creating various relationships between the street and the architecture. Both for an open and an enclosed condition, we proposed an operable device of two overlapping sliding louvers in order to enhance those various conditions.
While one of the louvers is wooden, a reminiscent of traditional Japanese architecture, the other louver is made from acrylic, thus representing the necessary separation as well as the desire for transparency.

Our objective was to create architecture not by walls but by means of opening devices. The space is thus controlled by those elements of openings rather than by walls, the least being less preferred, even despised in traditional Japanese Architecture. The devices move freely and lightly hence producing various sensual and spatial qualities. Surrounded by fixed heavy walls, I have difficulty breathing, while in an environment created by opening devices, I feel heightened and enhanced.