Rokko Housing I
Tadao Ando · Kobe, Japan · 1983
Rokko Housing I inserts a strict concrete grid into a steep hillside overlooking Kobe. Instead of flattening the terrain, Tadao Ando uses the slope to stack dwellings so that roofs, terraces and circulation become part of a stepped communal landscape. The project is a seminal example of dense housing that derives its section directly from topography, and it set the logic for Ando's later expansions on the site.