SATOSHI OKADA
ARCHITECTS

Commercial buildings line the main road, obstructing the dense, complex urban fabric packed with small traditional houses on cramped alleyways.

The nine-story building consists of seven types of residential spaces with eighteen housing units in total, designed into three rectangular prisms to condense its volume within the site. The south-facing residential units are composed of two detached volumes, each with a common floor deck in between the units. On the north side, the galvanized-steel exterior of the apartment building is purposefully tarnished by phosphoric acid to create a charcoal-silver finish. This north building houses the elevator, emergency staircase, and equipment ducts to centralize the circulation of individuals.

Human-scaled rusty curvatures highlight the main entrance at the foot of the large, austere building. Hidden within these contrasting boundary walls are also a bicycle shed, garbage disposal, and electrical utility. These enigmatic orange-brown walls are made of one-centimeter-thick corten steel, welded by shipbuilding technologies that ensure seamless waterproofing.