Yamaguchi House and Restaurant – Junya Ishigami
Designed for chef Motonori Hirata, Junya Ishigami’s underground house and restaurant in Ube, Yamaguchi Prefectureis a radical exploration of architecture as earth-formed space. Using an experimental casting technique, concrete was poured into excavated soil molds and later unearthed, revealing a series of arched chambers, organic columns, and surfaces imprinted with the raw textures of the ground.
What was meant to be cleaned was left mud-caked and untouched, as Ishigami chose to preserve the material memory of the process, blurring distinctions between construction and excavation, building and landscape. Submerged below street level, the space evokes a primordial grotto, offering a sensory, almost geological experience that redefines conventional notions of dwelling and dining.
