Free Press
2m26
FIRE HORSE.
Firefly.
snow is resting on thatched roofs. i feel feathers in my belly. its gonna be 5 years we are living in and renovating the farmhouse by the river, 10 years we are living and working in Japan. we never had a plan or always had the plan to let the door open and embrace unknown situations.
June 2021, we just finished to rebuild a townhouse in Kyoto, just started to discover and experience importance of fibres in japanese traditional constructions. Timber, tatami, straw ropes, woven shoes and garment, straw mixed with soil for walls, paper for partition, fibre everywhere. we wanted to play more.
and here we arrived in the bed of a valley in the japanese countryside, meeting with a house looking for breathing, with a garden wishing for light, with a river offering its fresh stream and a deciduous forest as background. A living environment that wasn’t expecting us, with its own decision making systems and shared responsibilities. A place for experimentation, learning, discovery and above all, the practice of alive architecture and construction. Here we go ! we told each other.
during three weeks, before the rainy season started, an unexpected dance took place above the river each night. flashing members were increasing day by day, until we all twirl in the water mirror. such an invitation is irresistible.
so we started questioning, listening to and exchanging with this new territory. preparing materials for the thatched roof renovation taught us a lot about where we live. Meaningful, obvious and joyful. planting rice in may, harvesting cedar bark in august, rice in september, bamboo in october, miscanthus in november and timber in winter. This environment offers us material to build, we spend time and energy to enhance its biodiversity. soon animals join us, help us maintaining, fertilizing the land and contribute to the daily refrain.
there is something primitive in this cycle. the territory makes the house, the house offers living beings a place to rest, living beings maintain land. there is something eternal in this house. it holds together and ages hand in hand. you can change one piece, it still holds up.
architecture is a small part of this cycle. by hands. on site. with joy.
june 2026, fire horse, firefly, we are waiting for giving birth to our first child.
melanie and sebastien
2m26
Photographs : Hanayo
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