Here we have the most productive fashionable Japanese residential homes designed by local and foreign architects, from the creative interiors of central Tokyo to the wise structures of Kyoto. making regulatory plans and narrow urban plots, opening up possibilities for all kinds of lifestyle, from minimalist to communal in Japanese architecture.
C4L is a trendy Japanese space with a classic twist. The residence, in central Tokyo, is encouraged through classical Japanese architecture and notions of home, designed by Hitoshi Saruta and his studio, design architect CUBO. Saruta and his team were encouraged through Junichiro Tanizaki’s e-book on Japanese aesthetics, In Praise of Shadows, which focuses on “materials and furniture whose good looks and convenience can only be fully appreciated in the darkness of a classic home,” the team explains. “In classic Japanese houses, deep eaves connected the interior with the lawn,” the architects continue. This has allowed the structures to have a comfortable and soft interior, keeping the interiors layered and comfortable, while the gaze is directed towards the much brighter outdoor grass. The same principles were used in this task of playing with light and shadow to create a comfortable domestic space.
Ok, not technically located in Japan, Kenzo House remains a charming Japanese space, as well as one of Paris’ most productive kept secrets. The house of the legendary fashion designer Kenzo Takada, is located in the 11th district of the French capital, and was originally created by Takada himself in 1988, it has been completely redesigned by the master of Japanese architecture Kengo Kuma in 2017, which brought the assets to their current state. iteration: an architectural slice of zen in the bustling city of Paris. Now, after Takada passed away in 2020, it came to market via Christie’s asset specialists. Kenzo’s paintings mix eastern and western influences, as well as a mix of color, softness and nature. Kuma has maintained this spirit through the revamp of the space, blending classic Japanese building fabrics such as ceramic, stone, bamboo and wood into the Parisian setting. “With it, we can revel in nature in a deeper and more intimate way,” Kuma said. “Transparency is a feature of Japanese architecture; I try to use soft, herbal fabrics to achieve a new kind of transparency.
SSH No. 03 is the third piece of architecture to open at Shishi-Iwa House Karuizawa, the ambitious Japanese hotel that harnesses the perspective of quality architecture to influence feelings and well-being. The new addition of Japanese architecture features a scattering of minimalist black ‘boxes’, appearing to float in the forest, separate yet connected, with floating walkways, corridors and hidden gardens slightly visible through the trees. A discussion that takes a position between nature and architecture takes a middle ground. SSH No. 03 is the brainchild of Ryue Nishizawa and marks the established Japanese architect’s first hotel project, set to open in May 2023 in Karuizawa, the picturesque mountain the city sits an hour from Tokyo. Nishizawa’s creation sits atop two existing wooden structures designed by Pritzker Prize-winning architect Shigeru Ban. The spaces are a few minutes walk away, surrounded by forests and mountains. SSH No. 03 is made up of a modular network of ten discrete two-story pavilions, explained through angular sloped roofs, black charred cedar cladding facades, and cut-out windows. In stark visual contrast, the interiors offer a distinct sense of lightness, with each and every structural detail—from floors to ceilings, walls, cabinets, and tubs—encased in natural, fragrant white hinoki cypress wood, a respected Japanese species. for a long time that it is sometimes used in imperial residences, shrines and temples.
Takeshi Hirobe’s Japanese Architecture Studio Villa MKZ is encouraged through his site; literally, as the unusually shaped structure was formed following the buildable contour of its land, resulting in an expressive, angular and striking roof that defines its identity. Perched on a hill with long prospects of the Japanese city of Minamiboso and the sea in the distance, this enviable site was challenging to design as it is steeply sloping, with a rocky outcrop making structuring difficult. However, a clever formula of forms and an open brain allowed Hirobe to design his task: a weekend area for a personal consumer. Kanagawa-based Hirobe and his team have woven the footprint of the main area around the constraints of the site, while a guest suite is situated at the other end of the site. “In our first consumer presentation, we came up with a design that consisted of interconnected triangles, but this design was not rigid; rather, our technique allowed us to adjust the red tape by ‘pinching’ the roof ridges as we developed a more detailed plan,” explained the architect. “We have gradually adjusted the peaks in reaction to visitor requests for the interior, so that each segment of the roof comprises an area suitable for its use. “
When Shinji Hamauzu stopped applying for Zozo Group, one of Japan’s leading fashion retailers, in early 2020, he told friends that he wanted to get into the hospitality business. Everyone advises him to oppose it. “It was in the middle of the Covid lockdown in Tokyo and everyone thought he was crazy,” he says. Hamauzu persevered. He did not have the objective of “solo” structuring and managing some other hotel. He sought to do things differently, and to emphasize this, and partly jokingly, he called his new business “Not A Hotel. ” “It was vital to make it clear that we were absolutely different from his old hotel himself,” says Hamauzu. “The same old direction for structuring a hotel is to get financing, build, then start promoting the rooms during the day and wait for smart occupancy. ” But instead, Hamauzu intended to treat each “room” like a timeshare, marketing it to 12 people, each with 30 days of use. He also planned to first locate an ideal location and have a well-known architect design the assets, then sell the renderings and drawings of the timeshares online. Only when the capital has been secured will the structure begin.
The origins of this brutal artist’s studio can be discovered at a Thai festival. Designer Ab Rogers and artist Hiraki Sawa met at Wonderfruit’s annual cultural harvest in Thailand in 2018 and rallied around fish, especially yellowfin tuna. Both are passionate chefs and this made them think about cooking, food and creativity, artistic time and space. Sawa, who studied at the Slade School of Art with British artist Phyllida Barlow and is best known for his short films and collage-based animations, divides his time between London and Kanazawa. , where he grew up. In 2019, he took over an empty and raw workspace in the Japanese city, first making plans to identify a small coworking area with a business partner. He then replaced the course and set about creating something more adventurous and typological, what he calls an area of “co-being. “
Designed around the concept of a hotel hotel, this Japanese house of the family circle in Fujisawa, Kanagawa, is a haven for any sea lover, located just two kilometers from the ocean. The client, an avid surfer with his circle of relatives, acquired the land to build a house, which would be functional and physically powerful enough to serve the activities of life while maintaining a relaxed “vacation” atmosphere. Wave House commissioned through Apollo Architects
This small space, perched on a hillside overlooking the Seto Inland Sea, is the ideal vantage point to appreciate the idyllic setting, composed of green nature and blue waters. Located on one of the many small islands of the Japanese archipelago, the compact design is a guest space: component of the grounds of a larger property, K Residence. The new building, along with a smaller dining pavilion next door, are the latest additions to a universe of designs that make up K Residence and were designed by Tokyo-based firm Schemata Architects, led by studio founder Jo Nagasaka. Designed as a miniature house to accommodate a circle of family and friends, when visiting the citizens of the main area, the guest space provides scomponentan accommodation and welcome seclusion, in a minimalist architectural setting.
The typical design of a circus tent, with its circular shape, discreet and repetitive aspects and a tense nature, served as inspiration for this new vacation home in Chiba Prefecture, Japan. Designed by architect Hitoshi Saruta of Tokyo-based Cubo Design Architect, the area, aptly titled The Circus, commissioned for a car-loving client, designed as an area where they can “spend time with cars. “with pride. At the same time, from the outside, it remains inconspicuous, if a little mysterious, in its dark, opaque shell reminiscent of the shape of the circus tent design. “Unlike a typical area with an integrated garage, the purpose here is to blur the barriers between people, cars and rooms in a quiet environment,” writes the architect.
This fashion house in a quiet residential corner of Tokyo’s Shibuya district is explained through its cinderblock volume, which appears opaque and mysterious on the lower levels, but becomes soft and transparent as visitors climb. Titled Spirit and designed by architect Satoshi Kurosaki, who runs local studio APOLLO Architects
The Aki-Shima House was built in 2004 in Akishima, Tokyo, by architect Taira Nishizawa. Unlike houses in many Western countries, Japanese apartments depreciate over time. As economists Richard Koo and Masaya Sasaki argued in a 2008 report, a typical home loses all economic price within 15 years of being built. Houses also have a limited physical lifespan: an estimated average of twenty years for wooden buildings and thirty years for concrete structures.
Repository, built in 2012 and designed by Jun Igarashi Architects, is located on the outskirts of Asahikawa on the island of Hokkaido in northern Japan. The domain reports a drastic temperature variation of 60 °C between summer and winter, so the space designed with this in mind, with only small openings and masses of insulation.
OEO Studio, in Copenhagen, brings a Scandinavian sensibility to the codes of Japanese design with the realization of an apartment in Tokyo in Opus Arisugawa Terrace
Shiguchi was born from the vision of one man, artist and collector Shouya Grigg, who remodeled a centuries-old farm organization into a cultural paradise that connects Japanese heritage and hospitality with fashionable luxury in an isolated, unspoiled valley in Hokkaido, the country. Northernmost island. Fascinated by the monumental A-shaped architecture, thatched roof and sloping roof (kominka) that dot the Japanese countryside, in 2015 Grigg discovered such an abandoned home in Tochigi, and painstakingly disassembled it, beam by beam, through a team of master craftsmen. He moved and reassembled near his home (and a previous artistic hospitality assignment he led), the new Zaborin ryokan, in the Niseko ski resort. More information
When we first heard about Junya Ishigami’s concept for a cave-like area and dining venue design in Yamaguchi in 2018, we knew we had to return once the task was complete. It is one of the designs that pushes the barriers of what architecture can be. Although relatively small in size, the assignment took nine years to prepare; 3 for the design phase and six for the actual structure. The result is a unique piece of Japanese architecture, and the product of a visionary spirit, heavy poured concrete, and careful archaeological excavation. The Ishigami consumer was looking for a distinctive land-inspired area that would serve as an intimate place to eat and a home for his family. Ishigami’s proposal included a radical structure method. On the 914 m² site a conscious landscape concept of moon-shaped holes was excavated and then filled with reinforced concrete. The cavities surrounding the concrete have been hollowed out to reveal a probably random, but in fact painstakingly designed configuration of interconnected ‘caves’ that make up the floor plan of the approximately 200m² structure. Learn more
Its complicated and steeply sloping terrain helped outline the identity of this new Japanese home in Chiba Prefecture. The Torus House, designed across Tomi City, Nagano-based Noriaki Hanaoka Architecture stands boldly on its hillside site, seeking north-facing perspectives of buildings and nature, and the sea beyond. Made of a giant piece of concrete, the space seems strong and forged, but rests on the hillside, wrapped in glass and shining in the summer sun. Spectacular inside and out, Torus House is comprised of a giant flowing space. This open-concept layout includes living, kitchen, dining and bedroom areas. The openness and lightness obtained through the glass walls and the wide perspectives, combined with the slope of the terrain, give the impression that the interior floats above the landscape. At the same time, forged pillars, spacers and concrete slabs anchor it firmly to the ground. Learn more
Built around a cascading valley of rice terraces that reflect the play of colors on the horizon, Kai Yufuin Hot Springs Ryokan by Hoshino Resorts is one of Kengo Kuma’s newest works.
This year, visitors to Vitra’s Weil am Rhein campus will find a newcomer to the furniture brand’s architectural treasure trove. Standing like a temple on a pristine site alongside buildings by Jean Prouvé and Buckminster Fuller, Japanese architect Kazuo Shinohara’s Umbrella House has a quiet yet compelling presence. The wooden design, built in 1961 in Nerima, a residential district of Tokyo, is the smallest and one of the last remaining apartments from the first of Shinohara’s 4 namesake “styles. ” His arrival in Germany is the result of a rescue project that began when the Japanese architecture firm SANAA contacted Vitra. He had been told through the Japanese Heritage Houses Trust that the space was in danger of being bulldozed to make way for a new road. Recognizing the importance of the construction – Shinohara is considered one of the most important Japanese architects of the 20th century today, but is still little known around the world – Vitra worked with the Tokyo Institute of Technology to dismantle, ship and rebuild the space on your campus, where it will serve as a venue for small gatherings. Learn more
This two-story, wood-frame boutique space is located in Tokyo’s Shinagawa district. Designed by Satoshi Kurosaki and his studio, APOLLO Architects
This small family home in southern Japan, the city of Hasami, is the time of what Momoko Kudo calls the “Box Series” (the first one was finished in 2018). 4 other size “boxes” were placed at a slight angle in the plan to shape the footprint of the space. The consumer likes to entertain, and the more public spaces such as the kitchen, dining room and living room are kept on the ground floor, while bedrooms for the family circle of 4 are on a more compact and welcoming upper level. . compartmentalized. The off-center arrangement of the “boxes” creates various outdoor spaces, and a giant roof (divided into two parts) harmoniously combines everything. Inside, a slightly sunken living room reduces sight lines to the surrounding greenery to almost ground level. This, combined with the floor-to-ceiling windows, creates a feeling of space. Outside, small but important details, such as slight rounding of the corners in the otherwise undeniable vertical cedar planks, paired with the rounded base and pressed flooring around the perimeter of the space, help keep the space in white and add a fresh touch, using undeniable and unpretentious materials. Slender round and vertical metal ceiling beams add another touch of modernity, contrasting beautifully with the vernacular cedar siding. Additional Writing: Jens H Jensen
A new mixed-use program has just been completed in Tokyo’s Ikegami district, so far very well. But this project, Ideareave Ikegami, through Ryuichi Sasaki Architecture in collaboration with consumer architect Takayuki Yagi Yasunori Kamata/K-M-T artfully combines a music corridor and residential is set in one building, ensuring that its citizens and the wider community can enjoy direct access to arts and culture from the comfort of their homes. The award-winning, world-famous architecture firm specializes in cultural reporting and has recreational and hospitality projects under its belt. In this design, a reinforced concrete design combines a functionality space, practice rooms, soundproof rental residential complexes, as well as a sumptuous attic at the top. The architects were encouraged through the dynamic character and cultural identity. of the region to expand your design solution.
The open plan of this space in Aoyama provides a feeling of spaciousness and luminosity to a compact apartment of 92 m². The exposed concrete ceiling adds height, while a small alcove for reading creates comfort. The fabrics are undeniable (plywood, mortar, velvet carpet) however, they complement others well in terms of color and texture. The lighting design features are designed through New Light Pottery. Additional writing: Jens H Jensen. Photo: Hiroki Kawata
When escaping Tokyo’s urban sprawl becomes a priority, many Tokyoites turn to the beach town of Hayama. Facing Sagami Bay and within a fairly simple drive from the big city, but at a much slower pace, it’s easy to see the charm of this small town beach. It is also the setting for this new Hayama house, commissioned through a circle of relatives who approached the Japanese architecture firm Case-Real for the design. While the consumer, a family circle of four, had been living on the domain for some time, they jumped at the chance to buy the land next to their existing home to expand their footprint. Since most residential lots in Japan are modest in size, the norm is to build in two or three stories to allow for compulsory ownership. However, after obtaining momentary land, the consumer can simply ask Case-Real’s Koichi Futatsumata to design a one-story house to suit his wishes, a move that is considered a luxury in Japan. Additional Writing: Jens H Jensen
The most recent residential assignment of this Fujioka family circle practice is a beautiful renovation of a Nagaya townhouse containing two apartments and a small shop. The studio’s attention to detail and fabrics reinforces the cultural importance of those classical houses, while suggesting a new direction for Nara. many old houses, waiting to get the Fujioka treatment. Additional writing: Jens H Jensen
Designed through a dynamic duo, Keiji Ashizawa from Tokyo and Norm Architects from Denmark, Kinuta Terrace is an overall renovation of 36 duplexes originally built in 1991. All the furniture in each unit of the house is designed and manufactured in a traditional way through Karimoku. a new logo line of furniture from the Japanese manufacturer, under the logo Karimoku Case Study. Additional writing: Jens H Jensen
Established six years ago through Nobuyoshi Hayashi, Hiroshi Kaito and Eri Yabushita, Écrit Architectes already has an impressive portfolio of completed projects, with a strong focus on single-family homes. Yabushita, the chief architect of the Uedayama House, designed an undeniable but generous space. for a young couple and their two children in Nagoya. The dining room and kitchen on the upper floor, narrow but high, stand out through their exposed beams and triangular windows at both ends. Additional writing: Jens H Jensen
This minimalist Case-Real home is split vertically, with a design office and piano room on the ground floor, and accommodation for a circle of 4 family members on the upper level. of the giant mulberry tree in the front garden create heat through the play of shadows, especially in the upper living areas. Additional writing: Jens H Jensen. Photo: Daisuke Shima
This Yokohama apartment construction would possibly be a multi-family home, but it pays attention to detail and serene design of a single-family project. An external skin and geometric external grid rhythm create a unified façade that seamlessly matches the top. Residential floors at level with advertising games on the ground. The result is a relaxing, minimalist appearance in what is a large-scale urban construction. Photo: Noriyuki Yano
The captivating housing laboratory that is suburban Japan continues to delight. Scoop Landscape House is a new commission from Not Architects Studio, a combined look commission through Tetsushi Tominaga and Lisa Ono, in collaboration with Aoi Nahata. Ono’s conceptual design for this 101 m² Japanese house aimed to create a domain that would “pick up” the most productive perspectives and fragments of the cityscape surrounding the modest grounds of Ota City, a spatial domain just south of central Tokyo.
The site situations were typical of the area, with compact land surrounded by other sized houses. “Usually when I walk around my neighborhood, I see a very repetitive cityscape,” Ono says. “However, when I squint, there are Moments that touch my heart, such as trees planted in gardens, weeds growing along the way, sunlight filtering through the leaves, or the sky seen between buildings. “The Scoop Landscape House has been designed to make the most of those fleeting moments. Additional writing: Jonathan Bell. Photo: Yasuhiro Takagi
This project, a vintage design completed in 2009, is located in the charming and ancient city of Kyoto. Narrowly and artfully located in a slightly curved footprint, the space sits on a small plot and illustrates the demanding urban situations faced by Japanese cities, as well as the ingenious responses of local architects. Photo: Mitsutaka Kitamura
Located in a quiet residential domain of Nishinomiya City, Hyogo Prefecture, an ideal natural environment that prides itself on being among the hundred most sensitive Japanese cherry blossom sites, F Residence is the work of local company Gosize. This project, in fact, is of specific importance to the company, being the home and owner of the Go Fujita studio, who founded Gosize in 1999. A complex case combining the realms of life and paintings has not deterred Fujita from employing his signature approach. architecture; The studio excels at creating fresh interiors that are fostered through the country’s traditions. “Seeking to reflect a unique Japanese aesthetic that privileges herbal fabrics and discovers good appearance in simplicity, the design emphasizes simplicity and empty spaces in the interior,” the architects explain. Photo: Nacasa and its partners
Even a quick look at the paintings of Hiroshi Sambuichi shows that it is transparent that the master of Japanese architecture does not make a convention. First, there was his Air House, an almost transparent fragment of glass and wood built over the moat of an impressive castle in Hagi. Then there was Sloping North House, a kin circle house perched on a high elevation in Yamaguchi. There is also the dental clinic, near Hiroshima, which he arranged as an overturned wooden boat with plants on the roof. we have Stone House, a kin circle house built in the mountains on a bed of crushed river stones. Sambuichi has already been awarded for buildings that manage to be beautiful and smart for the environment. Although he takes the ecological factor very seriously, there is nothing serious about his creations. Think very conscientiously about the fabrics you use (and reuse) and imagine ingenious tactics to make your building paintings with as little heating and cooling as possible. Additional writing: Fiona Wilson. Photo: Shinkenchu- sha
Located in the western component of Tokyo’s megacity, among tall century-old trees and low-rise mansions, Daita is a design-oriented 16-component development. Its author, Sasaki Architecture, worked with a clean, monolithic concrete main body, creating highlights. by placing L-shaped colored stainless metal openings on the façade. This design movement encourages the surrounding foliage, creating a discussion between the architecture and its surroundings, while the fresh design plays with the contrasts between the comfortable and the hard, the herbal and the artificial. Inside, minimalist White-painted concrete and exposed geometric openings in the walls and ceilings create a serene and minimalist atmosphere. It’s also vital to create “several spatial landmarks for the inhabitant, so that they can decide on various tactics for living in this unique design,” he adds. Photo: Takumi Ota
Japanese architect Tsubasa Iwahashi has added a new wooden area to an existing area in a forest in Okayama, Japan. The “cabin”, as he calls it, is a comfortable home for two, bathed in sunlight and connected to the surrounding nature with sitting areas and large windows. Iwahashi designed the cabin for a couple looking to live closer to their family. There is enough independence in the new living room due to the surrounding forest, but also great connectivity between the two structures. Additional Writing: Harriet Thorpe. Photography: Photography: Takumi Ota
It is not unusual for fashionable Japanese housing to be crammed into narrow plots and dense urban situations. It is a testament to the competence of an architect when the ability and generosity of the area shine through, despite difficult conditions. This is also the case of Flat369, a multi-family residential assignment created through Japanese architecture studio No. 555 founded in Kanagawa and located in the center of Tokyo’s Setagaya district. The program package called for the creation of a six-unit build on an incredibly narrow lot, in the past used as a parking area. No. 555’s founder, Yokohama-trained architect Takuya Tsuchida, has been running his nimble, boutique workplace since 2005, focusing on a diversity of fashionable residential, advertising, and cultural assignments. Whatever the typology, the studio’s technique favors white geometric volumes, herbal fabrics, and unbiased color tones, resulting in sophisticated architectural compositions that feel relaxing, nodging to minimalist architecture, a path Tsuchida also took with Flat369. Photo: Masatoshi Mori
Located in the sleepy suburban belt of the city of Fukuoka, Residence T is an angular and intriguing house, the brainchild of Japanese architecture firm Matsuyama Architect and Associates. Created for a consumer who has lived in the domain since childhood, the domain replaces an older apartment on the site, with the aim of modernizing the domestic domain by offering and creating a home suitable for the use and habitability of its new inhabitants. – a couple and their children. The streetscape was established based on the grid street plan through a 1960s administrative land zoning allotment to supply parcels for new domains. Since then, it has been consistently regenerated by replacing the existing buildings with new domains in recent years”, explain the architects. Although the design team created something ambitious and contemporary, at the same time the architects sought to respect the overall character of the domain, which is populated largely through relatively modest two-story structures. Due to this, the new design retained a rather empty and opaque façade in a volume divided into horizontal blocks, which were stacked backwards or forwards towards the street, creating an overall sculptural impression. This outer envelope is made of concrete formwork in the form of a lining, which blends with the glazed parts of the upper grades that leave only traces of life inside. Photography: Toshihisa Isii
Japanese architect Takeshi Ikuchi’s modern farm assignment for a young couple in Matsuyama, Japan, makes the most of the area’s nearby landscape and architectural traditions. Spending nine years working in Hiroshi Sambuichi’s studio obviously had a profound impact on Ikuchi’s technique for architecture. On the road to Sambuichi, the site and surrounding architecture were thoroughly studied to help determine the general location of the construction, called Wind and Fire Farm. Openings in the west and east facades of the building allow the gentle summer breeze to flow. freely to refresh the interior with herbs, while blinds protect you from the scorching sun. In this way, even in winter, the bloodless north wind is well blocked, while allowing herbal ventilation. Photo: Shuhei Miyahata. Additional writing: Jens H Jensen
Kamakura City’s beautiful Japanese beach is known for its rich history and scenic location, offering views of the Shonan coastline to the iconic summit of Mount Fuji. A hilltop spot here can provide wonderful insider views and a better position to appreciate the Japanese. culture and countryside; as the foreign owners of a new house, called T3, discovered when they built their house in Kamakura. Clients approached local architect Hitoshi Saruta of CUBO Design Architect for a commission. To his credit, he took advantage of the possibility of creating something fashionable that would also satisfy his clients’ interest in the aesthetics of Japanese gardens, as well as Japanese culture and architecture. Photo: Koichi Torimura
Maintaining privacy while offering spacious rooms with an abundance of aromatic herbs is a challenge for Tokyo residents. Architects deserve to take into account the spaces built up to the neighboring masses and the roads right in front of the windows, without the protective edge of a sidewalk. In Japanese architecture firm Apollo Architects’ latest residence, Timeless, those demanding situations have been thoughtfully addressed through the use of two interior courtyards that allow plenty of herbal light to enter the spacious 300m² home. The commission for this area of Tokyo came from a couple who once lived on the land but, after their three children grew up and stole the nest, they sought to rebuild to make their existing lifestyle compatible. From the outside, it would be simple to think of this Japanese space as a giant box that seeks to fill the footprint as much as possible. There is only one strip of window, positioned too high for pedestrians to see and stretching on either side of the street-facing space. This window, a single door and a garage are the only elements that give a glimpse of the internal life of the building. Photography: Masao Nishakawa. Additional Writing: Jens H. Jensen
Surrounded by open fields and sparsely built suburbs, House in Sashiogi stands on the outskirts of Tokyo, the paintings of Waro Kishi and his Japanese architecture firm K Associates. Generous in size, on a 300 m² lot, a cozy spot for the region’s typical family apartment, this suburban Tokyo house draws direct inspiration from its landscape and the low, quiet nature of its context. “The immediate thought that occurred to me when I first visited the site was that a one-story open space would be good for this environment,” says Kishi. At the same time, it is peppered with style and experimentation that nods to early modernist architecture. Balancing the lack of perspectives with the durability of the space – “Of course, the surrounding environment will go through urbanization and rapid change,” says Kishi – the architecture team designed a building that is partly open and transparent, and partly enclosed in a space more Opaque exterior perimeter wall made of sheet metal. In this way, flowing, light and open interior spaces can join the exterior, offering a more flexible internal layout, while parts of the space, such as bedrooms and bathrooms, can be consciously hidden from prying eyes. Photography: Shigeo Ogawa
This new structural space in Tokyo’s Shibuya district is a task designed for a couple and their two children. The architects, Takaaki Fuji Yuko Fuji Architecture, made the most of the small corner plot by building and sculpting it in an impressive way with a summary plot. -Windows to the ceiling on 3 levels. The structure, which combines a space and a ground floor workplace for one of the clients, also involved complicated studies on the surrounding microclimate. This “to decrease dependence on mechanical appliances such as air conditioning as much as possible,” explains the architectural team. Photo: Masao Nishikawa
This space came with an unusual record. It is owned through a consumer who owns two spaces in the same central district of Tokyo, occupying them alternately. This construction was the time of the two to be built, so the consumer’s mandate was only that this space do what the other does not. ; an unconventional request, which architect Yukio Asari enthusiastically accepted. As a result, “the commission has no compatibility with the typical definition of a space – that is, a position of everyday life – nor that of a holiday home, a position of escape from everyday life. On the contrary, it is at an intermediate point, destined to enlarge life and assign it a new light,” explains the architecture team. The ribbed concrete on the outside contrasts with the polished concrete and wood on the inside, creating a dramatic effect. Photo: Masao Nishikawa
A French-Japanese couple approached architect Hiroshi Saruta and his team with the commission of an area, quietly located on the most sensitive part of a hill in the historic Japanese city of Kamakura. The design, contemporary, is encouraged through classic Japanese gardens and Japanese tea. ceremony. It includes a main area and a separate area for visitors, as visitors like to be entertained. The result is relaxing and finely tuned to fashion and heritage. “We hope that this hybrid of modern and classic Japanese design will blend perfectly with the natural environment and facilitate deep and meaningful exchanges with visitors,” says the architect. Photo: Koichi Torimura
The Japanese architecture trio’s newest residential project, Weather House, occupies a main corner site in a residential suburb of Tokyo. Moving away from the trend of minimalist architecture in Japanese homes, the team opted here for exposed concrete floor slabs and stairs embedded in the plot. The line of the structure is delimited through thin metal beams with a wire mesh fill that will eventually be covered with climbing plants and vines, blending into the nearby urban park. The Tokyo-based studio is Not Architects. Il created through Tetsushi Tominaga, Lisa Ono and Aoi Nahata; Ono and Nahata teamed up with Tominaga to shape Not, while the latter also runs his own studio, Tetsushi Tominaga Architect.
A Japanese metal-frame space in Tamatsukuri, Osaka, underwent a minimalist facelift, courtesy of Reiichi Ikeda Design. It reorganizes the interior space, transforming the interior design into an ode to simplicity and minimalist architecture. Located in a busy domain of the city, on a wide street, the existing design had a number of advantages and disadvantages. of this plot, a detail that the architects took advantage of by installing a giant double-glazed window that takes advantage of the warm sweetness of the north. solid temperature inside, which led to overheating and durability issues. The team addressed this by adding insulation and blocking some misplaced windows (the role of which it replaced through the aforementioned giant new opening). Photo: Yoshido Masuda
Even before you enter Japanese architect Naoki Terada’s personal home in Tokyo’s more commonly residential Suginami district, you get the feeling that this Japanese space (and its owner) is something special. Next to the entrance, they observe it through the large eye of a faithful copy of Stanley Kubrick’s HAL 9000 interface: A Space Odyssey. Terada’s HAL was reprogrammed to serve only as a benign video intercom, but the love for what the future looked like in the 1960s is dazzling this Japanese house. Photo: ben richards
This wooden circle of family home designed for a couple and their 3 young children in northern Kyoto. Customers have opted for an open-concept design informed through their penchant for simplicity, as well as the need to be attentive to their children at all times. . 07BEACH has placed a sapling in the middle of the double-height living room, which will grow sentimentally with the young over the years. Meanwhile, on the first floor, a tatami room and the youth room feature giant suspended windows that complement the tactile surfaces with herbal light.
Located at the crossroads of 3 prefectures (Hiroshima, Yamaguchi and Shimane), Stone House walks gently on the earth with its architecture. Architect Hiroshi Sambuichi prides himself on designing with herbal and repurposed materials. Stone House is a minimal masterpiece that was meant to be able to cope with the bloodless months, when the domain is whipped by strong winds and covered in snow, but it also had to serve as a cool retreat in the hot summer months. Sambuichi made the rather radical decision to bury the space in a bed of stones, which come from a nearby river. In winter, those stones protect the space from icy winds, while in summer they keep the temperature and humidity low. Photo: Shinkenchu-sha
Tato Architects designed the enlarged Rokko House on the hillside of the city of Kobe in southern Japan. Located in a mountainous area, the two-story space has a metal structure with glass walls. On the ground floor, transparent walls involve the kitchen, dining room The first floor is used for entertaining, creating music or painting, while upstairs, still on the current floor, there is a bedroom and a garage. Japanese architect Yo Shimada established his office, Tato, in 1997 and his paintings reach a plethora of residential. design, adding this space in Rokko.
Considering the client’s budget constraints, architect Yuji Tanabe and his team envisioned Casa Pettanco as a modern, open domain with low ceilings and simple, minimalist details. Located in the mountainous region of Matsumoto, the domain known as the Japanese Alps, the domain’s many wooden elements feature locally grown species, such as Japanese larch used for framing. The two-story structure was calculated using the Japanese ken module, this is a unit commonly used in Japanese architecture (1 Ken corresponds to 1. 82 m). Multifunctional domain covers many needs. It is a practical and spacious circular relative’s house, with two bedrooms and a bathroom on the ground floor at the rear of the property. It is also a workshop, with a studio domain located upstairs, on the first floor. Photo: Yuji Tanabe
Located on the beach in Kamakura City, about 30 miles southwest of Tokyo, Window House’s design was adapted from the 2008 edition of a Muji house by architect Kengo Kuma. Window House has an area of 80 m² and is distributed in two grades with the flexibility to reconfigure the layout according to the needs of the plot. With an open design and minimal white interiors, the form is inspired, says Muji, through a classic English country house. The external walls are wrapped in openings on all sides. From the visual frame, the windows are detailed according to Muji’s clutter-free design sensibility, strategically placed to invite ventilation and ventilation, and to frame the exterior views of the lawn. Photo: Muji / Ryohin Keikaku
A student of famed Japanese architect Jun Aoki, Nakamura established his independent practice in 2004 and continued to create transient-sensitive installations and imaginative store interiors in Japan, with wonderful success. Between two routes, M House is a balance between disciplines. Modest approach, believing that it is the duty of the architect to design an undeniable “neutral background for the interior and the plants to come”. The design is a bare reinforced concrete frame clad with white-painted brick tiles that help the outer face rise into the salty ocean air. Together, they give the impression that the space is “waiting for a renovation,” according to the architect, who cites the whitewashed panel placed in the middle of the interior concrete wall as an example of the kind of “unfinished atmosphere” that “helps citizens relax. “. “. Photo: Ryuji Nakamura
Developed through Taishi Kanemura, an architect from Pawson’s London office, the execution of the interior program and external form of this space were guided through the catenary curve of the site. Height spaces in closed and conical form at the rear, but at the front it escapes and opens like an eye on the promontory, with the ground point raised to optimize sight lines towards the ocean,” explains the architect. The Okinawa House is an open and luminous circle of relatives’ house that shows the simple, orderly and herbal style of Pawson. Its clean, tranquil surroundings and striking ocean perspectives offer a relaxing, meditative residential escape from the hustle and bustle of the metropolis. Photo: Nacasa
Located in a tranquil domain of Tokyo, this 914-square-foot NA space is a transparent white metal structure construction, a soft, bright contrast to the concrete blocks of the city’s dense residential domains. Inspired by the concept of living in a tree, the interior of the space is created with 21 individual floor plates that are in other grades according to the preference of the guests to live as nomads in their own homes. Photo: Iwan Baan
The Nerima area is situated on a compact 35-year-old, hundred-m² grass plot on the green outskirts of the Japanese capital. The front terrain of the area is semi-submerged below ground, offering a further detail of privacy for the owners, while enhancing the visual connection with the surrounding foliage. Most of the 99 m² area, spanning two levels, is designed in an open plan, as the architects sought to avoid dividing the assets into several smaller areas, to ensure a more generous and airy internal feel. One of the most striking features of the wood-clad design is its glass-striped window, which sits above the most sensitive ground and surrounds the building. This 360-degree panoramic window adds to the feeling of space from the inside and floods the floor with light. The gigantic opening is supported by a series of white wrought metal columns, thin and discreet, which do not detract from the strong visual effect of the horizontal strip. Photo: Kenichi Suzuki
Designed between 2006 and 2008, Maison N is designed for two other people and a dog. Its design has 3 interlocking compartments that describe the activities of the inhabitants. The innermost shell is a personal inner domain, the middle domain comprises a protected domain in the domain that includes a covered lawn that creates a sophisticated transition between inside and outside. Photo: Iwan Baan
Built between 2010 and 2014, this housing complex, Nishinoyama House, designed through Kazuyo Sejima of SANAA, is situated in a suburban domain of Kyoto. The scheme consists of ten houses that are connected through a unified layout and gardens and walkways. Form, the rooms of the apartments open onto the courtyards and have many resources of peacefulness and ventilation. The design of the arrangement was created to inspire networked living.
Japanese architect Terunobi Fujimori, known for his paintings with herbal materials, incorporates green roofs into his architectural designs. Here at Leek House, a wooden grid with circular openings is placed to allow leeks to grow towards the sun, an ideal environment for growth. Photo: Akihisa Masuda
Designed by Ron Arad and created with the assistance of local firm Issho, architects involved in the project, and situated on a densely built street of two- and three-storey single-family spaces, the new D space spans 180 m² and 3 above floor level. The building’s narrow profile is maximized through an expressive front façade consisting of a stack of worn metal ribbons (on site), which were manufactured locally, in a workshop outside Tokyo. This adds dynamism to the main concrete frame of the space and creates a strong sense of movement and a play of shadows and sweetness in the space. Photo: Anatole Papafilippou
An ode to concrete, the Grigio House in Tokyo is designed by Japanese firm Apollo Architects.
Japanese architect Junya Ishigami, former student of Kazuyo Sejima
Built in 2008, this domain is located in Sagamihara, Kanagawa, Japan. Its wooden design has collected compartments, domains and mezzanines inside, and also gives dominance in its plan to dominate a pony. Pony Garden overlooks a gigantic domain to walk for the pony. and allows you to venture to the sheltered terrace. Photo courtesy of Atelier Bow-Wow
Located in a suburb of Tokyo, west of the Kanto Plain, the Rainy Sunny House was designed with its humid climate in mind. Due to the humidity, the architect designed the use of bare reinforced concrete for the folded walls, a strategy that would retain alkalis. and dye. The mold made of larch plywood that transferred its grain to the concrete surface to create a textured effect. Photo: Ryota Atarashi
Designed through Ryue Nishizawa, Moriyama House is a minimalist prefabricated metal space with a flexible format designed to merge personal life and network, designed for Yasuo Moriyama. Located in the suburbs of Tokyo, the space is a multi-building apartment consisting of ten separate buildings. ranging from one to three floors, each room is a separate building. The steel cladding allows the walls to be as thin as possible to maximize interior space. Photo: Takeshi Homma
Ellie Stathaki is Editor-in-Chief of Architecture at Wallpaper*. She trained as an architect at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki in Greece and studied architectural history at Bartlett in London. Now an established journalist, she has been a member of the Wallpaper* team since 2006, visiting buildings around the world and interviewing leading architects such as Tadao Ando and Rem Koolhaas.