U-House In Irie / Ushijima Architects

This area was a part of Biwako (which is the largest lake in Japan). It had changed to an independent lake, been buried for making rice filed after World War, and become a residential area recently. It means here is always moving naturally and artificially. It had been attacked by flood time and again after being buried, but the memory of this is forgotten because the technology of flood control had been improved and a lot of new residences which are so normal that can be seen everywhere in Japan have been built. However, there is a possibility that this area will be attacked by floods again because of global warming. Or it will be covered with reeds if the population of this area continues to decrease and the Biwako’s water level is lower. We can’t anticipate the future of this site.