Fuji Rinri Seminar House
Text: Hiroshi Naito
Photo: Naito Architect & Associates

Commanding a view of Mount Fuji, the site of this project is located on the Gotenba plains, and is subject to extremely severe conditions, including midwinter temperatures that fall below minus 20 degrees Celsius. On the other hand, it's also a place that has a calm and peaceful atmosphere fostered by the deep surrounding forest of Japanese cedar. Built here is a training facility designed to provide for education in ethics. The buildings were divided into three road functional groupings: classrooms, administration and lodging. Although they have different forms, they were arranged in a U-shaped configuration so that they maintain a village-like relationship.
The L-shaped area containing the functions of classrooms, administration and Seido is covered by a laminated timber structure, which was processed automatically using construction machinery connected directly to a computer. By taking that approach, it was possible to make complicated joints that transmit strength between timber members without using steel. We used this construction to maximum application in giving visual expression to the variations of organic strength in the building's interior. The gentle atmosphere created by these new steel-less joint is a major characteristic of this architecture.