We are proud to share that an ishibadate building for which EKAM created the regenerative landscape has won both the Gold Winner and the Public Choice awards at Global Architecture Awards 2025 (GAA 2025).
We want to share with everyone working in landscape and civil engineering this moment when Japan’s traditional ishibadate construction has been recognized internationally. Along with the award announcement, we walk through why ishibadate is now drawing attention in the regenerative context — its history, construction process, and effects on both the ecosystem and the human body.
日本語版： Global Architecture Awards 2025金賞受賞のご報告
What Is Ishibadate? Definition and Historical Background
Ishibadate is a traditional Japanese construction method in which stones called soseki (foundation stones) are placed beneath columns, with wooden columns standing directly on top. It differs fundamentally from the modern mainstream of “fixed-connection construction” using concrete foundations: columns and stones are not bolted together; the building simply rests on the stones.
This method’s origins trace back to temple and shrine architecture of the Asuka and Nara periods. Among the world’s oldest wooden architectural complexes — Horyuji, Todaiji, and others — all are built using ishibadate, demonstrating durability of over a thousand years. By the Edo period it had spread widely to ordinary homes, and remained the standard construction method in Japan until before the war.
Things changed after the 1950 Building Standards Act. Rigid construction with concrete and rebar became the regulatory standard, and traditional methods were progressively pushed into a difficult institutional position. Now, about 70 years later, against the backdrop of climate change, ecosystem destruction, and chemical sensitivities, the re-evaluation of ishibadate is rapidly accelerating.
The Construction Process — What Happens On-Site
The first thing in ishibadate construction is selecting the soil and foundation stones. Unlike modern methods that homogenize ground with concrete, ishibadate requires precise reading of the site’s topography, water flow, and soil composition. Areas where water tends to pool, areas where soil is soft — all are identified in advance, and appropriate foundation stone positions and sizes are determined.
Foundation stones are typically local materials such as granite, sandstone, or basalt. The top surface is hand-finished flat to match the column base, carefully adjusted so loads bear evenly. Beneath the stones, cobblestones and gravel are tamped to create ground that ensures both drainage and ventilation.
Columns rest on the foundation stones — and are not fixed. Instead, horizontal members called ashigatame (ground-stabilizers, in place of sill plates) and nuki (penetrating beams) tie columns together, forming the building as an integrated frame. This flexible joinery creates ishibadate’s distinctive “flexing architecture.”
The crawl space is preserved as open space lifted off the ground. What modern construction blocks with vapor barriers and concrete, ishibadate leaves open — protecting the pathways for soil, air, and water.
Effects on the Human Body — Why Ishibadate Homes Feel Easy on the Body
The first benefit ishibadate brings to the human body is earthquake force dispersion. Because columns resting on foundation stones can micro-move horizontally, earthquake energy is absorbed rather than transmitted through the building. This is energy dispersion through natural wisdom, predating the modern concepts of vibration control and base isolation.
Next is the chemical-free living environment. VOCs (volatile organic compounds) in concrete, plywood, adhesives, and paints are major contributors to indoor air pollution in modern housing. With ishibadate, where wood, stone, soil, and plaster are the dominant materials, the risk of sick-house syndrome and allergies drops dramatically.
The continuous crawl-space ventilation also directly impacts moisture management. In Japan’s hot, humid climate, crawl-space moisture breeds mold and rot. In ishibadate, airflow keeps wood naturally dry, simultaneously extending wood lifespan and managing healthy interior humidity.
The far-infrared radiation, thermal mass, and humidity-buffering effects of stone, soil, and wood create a body-friendly thermal environment that does not depend on air conditioning. This is qualitatively different from modern insulation performance — it is the moisture and temperature regulation built into the materials themselves.
Effects on Soil and Ecosystems — What Happens Beneath the Ground
From a regenerative perspective, the most important thing about ishibadate is its relationship with the ground. Concrete foundations, by their nature, cover most of the surface, blocking rainwater infiltration, soil aeration, root growth, and mycorrhizal networks. This affects not just directly beneath the building but the soil ecology of the surrounding area.
In ishibadate, foundation stones rest at discrete points, so even beneath the building, rainwater infiltrates, air circulates, and plants extend roots freely. The crawl space becomes habitat for diverse organisms — snakes, insects, small mammals — functioning as architecture that does not sever ecosystem connections.
From the standpoint of soil health, the cobblestones and crushed stone around foundation stones promote rapid rainwater infiltration and capillary moisture lifting. On ground sealed with concrete, water has nowhere to go — it overflows at the surface, or never reaches the depths, leaving the soil dried and hardened. Around ishibadate buildings, this underground water movement remains healthy.
Stone, wood, and soil all return to nature. After the building has served its purpose, it does not remain as industrial waste like concrete; it returns to the earth and connects to the next cycle. This means low environmental impact across the entire architectural lifecycle.
About the GAA 2025 Award-Winning Project — EKAM’s Regenerative Landscape
The award-winning project is an ishibadate home built against a backdrop of rich mountain forest. EKAM was responsible for the regenerative landscape across the entire site: reading water flow, improving aeration and infiltration, designing planting around native species, and integrating the building with the garden.
By preserving every existing tree on site and designing decks where trunks rise through the gaps, the building is — literally — placed within the forest. Rainwater reaches the soil between foundation stones, wind passes beneath the floor, and tree roots spread freely underground. The combination of ishibadate and regenerative landscape allows building and site to function as a living system.
Receiving both Gold Winner and Public Choice at Global Architecture Awards 2025 demonstrates that this approach holds high value even within international architecture and design evaluation criteria.
A Message to Landscape and Civil Engineering Professionals
Ishibadate is not “old.” It is a construction method built on a thousand years of deep understanding of terrain, climate, and ecosystem — refined by Japanese builders before concrete existed.
What we want to share with professionals working in landscape and civil engineering is this: a building’s construction method and the surrounding landscape design are inseparable. Whether the architecture covers the ground with concrete or works with the ground fundamentally changes the quality of landscape that can be created around it. In collaboration with architects and designers, stepping into the building’s foundation method from a soil-ecology perspective may be the stance regenerative landscaping needs going forward.
EKAM welcomes inquiries about collaborations with ishibadate construction, and about training in regenerative landscape design.