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Oblique Garden
Design: Aleksandra Forystek
Saul Kim
Visialization: River He Ze Hua
Competition Entry
NOT A HOTEL
JAN 2026, Japan
Oblique Garden is a residence that explores the tension between ground and architecture, nature and construction. Rather than being placed on the site, the project emerges through a geometric negotiation with the sloped terrain, positioning architecture as a condition formed by the land rather than an object imposed upon it.
Two square forms are set obliquely against the hillside, allowing the ground to cut, open, and shape inhabitable space. This relationship generates distinct lower and upper openings, using the natural slope to organize light, view, and access without asserting formal dominance over the landscape.
Living programs are embedded within the lower opening, grounding daily life close to the terrain and orienting spaces toward southern light and distant ocean views. Leisure spaces occupy the upper opening, where they are more exposed to air, sky, and the surrounding forest, establishing a quieter and more expansive spatial character.
Interior spaces unfold through elongated circulation, skylights, and courtyard voids, maintaining a continuous dialogue between enclosure and openness. A sunken corner transforms the square into a sloped basin that holds water, blurring distinctions between roof, ground, and pool. From above, the architecture dissolves into the terrain, existing as a trace where constructed form and natural ground continuously redefine one another.




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