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February 13th, 2008

Here’s another project from Schemata Architecture Office, this time a house built at 63.02° to the road.

The house in Nakana, Tokyo, was completed in December and has a floor space of 71.4 m2

Photographs are by Takumi Oota. See our earlier story on Sayama Flats by Schemata Architecture Office.

Here’s some text from Schemata Architecture Office:


63.02°is built on a built up area in Tokyo. This small building is used as SOHO and an apartment for rent.

This building is cut on the axis line inclined to a front road by 63.02°. The window in this building concentrates there. You can see the intersection by seeing the outside through the windows.

In front a splendid cherry blossoms tree stands. It is only fine sight in this building that is acquired in the center.

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47 Comments

  1. rodger Says:

    exquisite, and oh so japanese.

  2. Daniel Brown Says:

    Methinks I really should move to Japan.

  3. eyeontheworld Says:

    Irregularity of angles, floor space, interior finishes and austere lack of any colour palette is this design. The truly commercial finish could be the only match for the utilitarian practicalities of its fixtures. Tonal shades of concrete heighten the effectiveness of the design, its unavoidable focus on straight lines and edges. The abstract, clever utilisation of a minimal footprint needs no other additions. The abundance of natural light through clinically inserted voids of glass is a sheer marvel, allowing pinpoint contrasts to the interior. This building is equally gallery and exhibition.

  4. Austin Says:

    architecture but with a capital A!!

  5. kumakuma Says:

    fantastic.

    the ward it is located in should read “nakano”

  6. Emerson Says:

    Spooky – I had exactly the same thought as Daniel Brown

  7. Josh Says:

    as always, thanks for publishing this. but why show a house that is ALL about a specific geometric degree in plan..and not show the plan?!

  8. Thumb Says:

    From the back it looks like a flat screen TV!

    It’s truly incredible what these Japanese practices are doing on ridiculously miniscule plots.

  9. Jimmy Says:

    looks intriguing, but that’s as far as it goes – how about a plan?

  10. themark Says:

    The austerity begs the question: “could you live in it?” I think not. A nice portfolio piece to be admired by equally minded architects and designers, but not practical in any way. A mixture of (probably) single-pane glass with concrete floors, walls and ceiling make for a frigid experience in Tokyo’s winter. I know, I live here already.

  11. fran Says:

    Muy buena obra, pero no para todos… Pero su arquitectura es impactante honestamente.

  12. Helen-LG Says:

    I think I’m with themark here – it’s impressive, particularily on such a small plot of land, and there is an abundance of natural light, which is always a plus but my initial, gut instinct about it as somewhere to live is it’s small, cold and not particularily inviting. Great design though, definitely architecture with a capital A as Austin said.

  13. JuiceMajor Says:

    Luving this already!! This building shows you can make beautiful architecture with just being simple and honest!!

  14. Architecture Nowadays... Says:

    If it has a bathroom I could live there with my ipod and a microwave owen.

  15. RhetRx Says:

    Innovative, utilitarian….. desperately in need of plants and life!

  16. aliceinwonderland Says:

    It’s beautiful & useful. There is no problem to live in.

    我也喜歡住日本阿!!

  17. d3vot Says:

    ok – this house is nice but those power lines spoil the effect – the surrounding looks very bad…

  18. blahBlah Says:

    nice that they showed the ugly ass backside too. not to many published works acknowledge that the pretty magazine ready front needs a part that it ready to work. sorry for the neighbors on that side.

  19. Abdullah Çıkrıkçı Says:

    it’s brilllant

  20. MZ Says:

    Great house, but…desperate individualism: POOR URBAN PLANNING: This seems to be a free standing house, but it would be much better to do a townhouse/rowhouse of even a collective housing on such dens areas. It would have probably more qualities what garden/green conserns. The biggest advantage of the free standing house is killed by town planners: the garden. But the design is a good answer to a bad question.

  21. João Says:

    just like Architecture Nowadays said, imagine if we could all live with just a bathroom, an ipod and a microwave owen… the house would be perfect… unfortunatelly, not all of us can, so…

  22. LaoyeChan Says:

    Does that degree make any sense?

  23. SkullOne Says:

    where the hell do you sleep in this house?

  24. Roy Says:

    Practical as a fur lined coffee cup. Poor use of of the lot and remarkably unfriendly to the neighbors. Living in it would be like residing in a cross between a shop window and a prison cell with none of the advantages of either. Nice piece of art though.

  25. Mishele Says:

    The first question that should be asked, is can you live in it? The first picture gave me claustraphobia. Blah, blah, blah, beautiful lines, blah
    inserted glass blah blah blah. This says NOTHING to me until I see the inside. That being said, I agree with MZ about the garden.

  26. fBot Says:

    Shame the lighting wasn’t more integrated
    Too much spill light from the outside

  27. fj-arch Says:

    Brave move for a speculative apartment – Just wait for the chintzy curtains to go up…

  28. videoblog Says:

    nice. very nice.

  29. j Says:

    I had a number of reactions:
    1)the proportions reminded me of my first barbie house- which was esentially a bookshelf with furniture painted onto the walls.
    2)does it go together with an alan wrench like the swedish furnishings that it resembles?
    3)once I get past the temptation to cover it with refrigerator magnets, it is actually quite striking.

  30. raul Says:

    Any merit this house has is overshadowed by the horrifying impact it has on the neighboring apartments and the street landscape in general. If I lived in that house, I would always feel like a guy with a huge hat in a movie theater. Everyone behind me trying to watch the movie and hating me because my stupid hat is as huge as my ego!

  31. Marcel Zwiers Says:

    Wauw! The most fascinating house I’ve come across in a long whil. Respect!

  32. Damfak Says:

    It’s so amazing to see that the shape of a house still has so many posibilities other than a box…..

  33. rusty Says:

    nice “house” on such a small place. but the costs for AC and heating will be high, because of the windows and concrete. you have to think this way too, to be a good architect. but i like it.

  34. maral Says:

    wow nice idea but i don’t like interior

  35. eastelsewhere Says:

    it needs curtains and life. All the morons with their ‘architecture with a capital ‘A’’s are forgetting its only a monument to ego until its occupied. This is graphically crisp and elegant but is a car showroom, not a house. judging from these photographs anyway.

  36. Ant Says:

    Unfortunately, I have to agree with Raul.

    On further inspection I can no longer see beyond the terrible lack of respect for the neighbors as a result of the way the house is situated on the site. To clumsily place all the services on the rear as an unconsidered after thought just adds insult to injury. This is a shame as the front elevation and the internal spaces have a serenity which I love.

  37. edward Says:

    Austere It would take a special type of person to live here. Disciplined. Focused. But it would be inspiring for the right person.

  38. jenn Says:

    amazing.
    makes me want to go and live in japan

  39. mark Says:

    don’t move to Tokyo just because you like a Japanese house.

  40. Hanz Says:

    the angled wall seems sit perfectly on the site.

  41. adam Says:

    considering architecture with a capitol A must deal with shelter and dwelling in an intelligent way, i give this a beautiful yet epic PHAIL – thermal nightmare, proportions from hell for anyone but they of a smaller peoples, and a huge Eff You Ass-end to the neighbors – this is an architecture which lacks any consideration except for the petulant tantrum of its forms and ‘clean lines’ Ayn Randing themselves within a certain context. Design has lost sense of the fabric, I guess since we are all such unique snowflakes – must EVERYTHING be a monument?

  42. Pete Says:

    The interior is very cold, but bold , I see very little in the way of furniture… I suspect that once it is furnished the house will feel more inviting… but will it loose that bold sculptural quality? thats always the question with buildings like this…
    In response to those who complain about the rear wall and the services… I think its beautiful, someone went to great care to make sure the services were laid out neatly specified in white etc etc… and this is Japan, the Japanese don’t seem to worry about hiding these things, they just get them right; pared down simplicity just the bear essentials.

  43. Simon Says:

    nice work. the only thing i find dubious is the pitched roof.

  44. kudumbe Says:

    would have liked to see more interiors

  45. odris Says:

    fenomenal

  46. Patrick Says:

    I like this. :-)

  47. keke Says:

    so japanese…

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