Crowdfunding Launches Today for a Guesthouse Fusing Local Timber, Tradition and Digital Technology

“Marebito House” is a guesthouse to be built in Toga Village, Nanto, Toyama Prefecture, home to the Gokayama gassho-zukuri villages famous as a World Heritage Site.
Every year in Toga Village, in early spring after the harsh winter, a traditional festival called the “Spring Festival” is held, in which large and small lion dances handed down since the Edo period are performed in each district to the sound of flutes and drums. During the festival, people from other villages also travel between communities, eating, drinking and mingling.

The project began with the idea that, rather than seeking permanent settlers, what suits this place is to create a state in which there are always people present, even as rare visitors (“marebito”) come and go day by day.

A key feature of the building is its construction method, which uses almost no nails in the structure and relies on timber joinery alone.
For the timber, a former resident of the 草嶺 area, a now-abandoned village in Toga, Nanto, kindly offered the sacred trees of the local shrine for the sake of the region, and we were permitted to fell and use them.

“Marebito House” was also selected for “Space Design Review 2018” (SD Review), known as a gateway to success for young architects. SD Review is a venue where designers show, through drawings and models, the thought process by which they arrive at solutions to problems through architecture.
https://vuild.co.jp/projects/single_13/

<Project overview>
Title: Building a contemporary gassho-zukuri house in Nanto – local timber × tradition × digital
URL: https://readyfor.jp/projects/marebitonoie
Period: From noon on Monday, April 22, 2019 to 11:00 p.m. on Friday, June 21, 2019
Target amount: 5 million yen (all funds will be refunded if the target is not reached by the closing date)
Use of funds: Part of the cost of building “Marebito House”

<Rewards>
◆Included in all courses
・A booklet documenting how Marebito House was made
・A booklet compiling the drawings and processes behind Marebito House (crowdfunding exclusive)

◆Patron Course (1) (10,000 yen)
・Your name listed as a patron in the booklet documenting how Marebito House was made
◆Marebito House Stay Ticket (Standard) Course (50,000 yen)
・A one-night stay ticket for Marebito House (with dinner)
　Capacity: up to 6 guests
　*Stays are not available during the Theatre Olympics.
　*We will ask for your preferred dates separately after the project succeeds.
・Your name listed in the booklet documenting how Marebito House was made
◆Marebito Course (100,000 yen)
・Ownership rights to Marebito House (up to 3 nights per year × 10 years)
　Capacity: up to 6 guests (no meals)
　*Stay rights are transferable.
・Your name listed as a “marebito” in the booklet documenting how Marebito House was made
◆Patron Course (2) (100,000 yen)
・Architectural data for Marebito House
・Your name listed as a patron in the booklet documenting how Marebito House was made
◆Patron Course (3) (500,000 yen)
・A 1:10 scale model of Marebito House
・Your name listed as a patron in the booklet documenting how Marebito House was made
◆Danna (Grand Patron) Course (1,000,000 yen)
・Ownership rights to Marebito House (available on any open day × 10 years)
　Capacity: up to 6 guests (no meals)
　*Stay rights are transferable.
・Your name listed as a “danna” in the booklet documenting how Marebito House was made

<About Marebito House>
Facilities: Beds, kitchen, bath
Rate: 30,000 yen per night (whole-house rental only); maximum capacity 6 guests
Access:
(Train/bus) 80 minutes by Nanto city bus from JR Etchu-Yatsuo Station. Take the Toga–Yatsuo line via the Toga Administrative Center and get off at “千束.”
(Car) 60 minutes from Tonami IC on the Hokuriku Expressway; 30 minutes from Gokayama IC on the Tokai-Hokuriku Expressway

[About VUILD] https://vuild.co.jp/
Company name: VUILD Inc.
Representative: Koki Akiyoshi, CEO
Founded: November 21, 2017
Capital: 55 million yen
Head office: unico 1F-A, 3-4 Nisshincho, Kawasaki-ku, Kawasaki, Kanagawa
Business: VUILD is a company of architectural creators that aims to create the “soil” for lively living environments by removing the “limits on creativity and the ability to realize ideas” of individuals through (1) information technology and (2) digital fabrication technology.
By using ShopBot (*), we aim to build a sustainable society through local production for local consumption, in which local timber is used, made by residents with their own hands, and used in the region.
We have also been developing designs through participatory workshops with citizens in many regions. Going forward, we will continue to distribute digital architecture technology to regions so that anyone can “quickly make the furniture and buildings they need for daily life, by themselves, whenever and wherever they like, using the materials at hand.” That is the “lively way of living” we will bring to life.
*ShopBot is a US-made 3-axis CNC (computer numerical control) cutting machine that can be purchased for around 5 million yen.