Architecture with Harmonious Modulation
The Kyodogakusha Shintoku Farm is a place opened for people who, for various reasons, have been compelled to live apart from society.
The farm produces a wide range of goods, but in particular, the cheese made here has not only become beloved by local residents but has also earned international recognition. This building serves as a men’s dormitory for those who work and live together on the farm.
The farm is located in Shintoku, in the Tokachi region, which lies in the central part of Hokkaido. Facing the vast expanse of the Pacific Ocean and the Tokachi Plain, with the undulating Hidaka Mountain Range behind it, Shintoku is a place where one can feel most deeplythe uniquely generous terrain of Hokkaido—a sort of layered modulation. Kyodogakusha Shintoku Farm is situated at the foot of Mount Shintoku, backed by Milk Hill, one of the end ridges of the Hidaka Mountains. The site for this building sits at the base of a gentle slope,with the farm spreading out in front of it.
In conceiving this architecture, the aim was to condense and weave into the life stage of the people who live and work together here the distinctive layered modulation of this place, which condenses the vast terrain down to this specific site.
The architecture adopts a simple structural form as its skeleton and is organized in a layered manner. The building has two levels, each in contact with the ground, and within each level, further modulation is attempted.
Within this generously layered composition, light and air resonate freely and richly throughout the interior of the building, gently bestowing a sense of harmonious modulation upon the lives of those who live and gather here.