Teepee-shaped House A Community Kitchen And A Spiral-shaped Pool

The modest complex, called Jikka by architect Issei Suma, is made up of five pointed structures that house a variety of utilities such as a spiral-shaped paddling pool and a huge kitchen.

JIKKA was commissioned by two ladies in their sixties, one of whom was a social worker and the other a cook. The cluster of five interconnected wooden huts occupies barely 100 square meters but has a range of services such as lodging, a bathroom with a spiral bath, a huge kitchen, and a restaurant that is open everyday and serves meals produced from locally sourced products. In addition, the customers prepare and distribute meals to the elderly in the neighborhood.

The exteriors of the teepees are wrapped in light-colored wood strips and accented by wide spherical windows and doors, but the interiors are primarily completed in cold concrete with supporting timber roof beams.

Skylights and circular apertures provide natural light into the space. The kitchen and restaurant are housed in the biggest space of the interconnecting structures.

The living quarters for the clients are placed to the west, while the two-person guest suites are positioned to the east, together with a spiral-shaped pool adapted for wheelchair accessible.

Photographs by Takumi Ota.