Slideshow: overlapping openings in the walls and ceilings of this Tokyo house by Japanese architects Suppose Design Office create dozens of views between rooms.
Contained within a rectangular wooden volume, the family house accommodates rooms for living and sleeping on its two main floors, plus an open-plan loft accessed by ladders.
Some rooms on the ground floor are set at a lower level than the corridors, while the attic storage areas are raised up slightly higher than the surrounding floor.
Narrow handrails screen balconies on the upper two floors, so residents have to be careful not to slip over the edges.
Other popular houses by Suppose Design Office include one where interior walls don't touch the floor - see more projects by the architects here.
You can also see all our stories about houses in Japan here.
Here's a few key details from the architects:
House in Kokubunji
Location: Kokubunji city,Tokyo,Japan
Principal use: personal house
Site area: 109.11sqm
Building area: 62.53sqm
Total floor area: 119.21sqm ( 1F:62.53sqm 2F:56.68sqm )
Completion: September. 2011
Design period: November.2009-December.2010
Construction period: December.2010-September. 2011
Structure: Wood
Storeys: 2
Client: a couple and two children
Project architect: Makoto Tanijiri [suppose design office]+ Hiroshi Ohno [Ohno JAPAN]
Project team: Makoto Tanijiri [suppose design office]+ Hiroshi Ohno [Ohno JAPAN], in-charge;Keisuke Katayama
Ground floor plan
First floor plan
Second floor plan
Cross section
I like the concept but why are there no openings in the facade to let the light in. It seems a little bit too dark with artificial light instead of natural.
There are several windows in the house. Most importantly there are giant skylights. If you look closer you will notice a significant amount of natural light. The house faces a busy road in Tokyo so they had to bring in natural light from the top instead of front facing windows. IMO the solution is rather clever.
pure – elegant – minimal but inviting and cosy … let me just say I love it – definitely the Wow Effect
Beautiful work! Amazing use of texture, seems very wabi-sabi. There is one photo with a tv perched somewhat awkwardly in the corner away from the chair setup, looks weird, but I wouldn't blame the architecture for that.
Silly! No other word for it. The real requirements of family subordinated to an aesthetic notion and not a very good one. .
I completely disagree here. Whilst there is an aesthetic of pure minimal both in materiality and function, these guys time and time again produce incredibly exciting and novel spaces that experiment with modes of family interaction and activity. These might not always be successful, and yes sometimes they seem silly – but at least they are testing boundaries. Seems japanese building codes allow for this kind of flexibility.. Which is fantastic imo.
Also bear in mind that family requirements vary with culture. Many families in Japan hold a very different view of privacy, for instance, compared to what you might be used to.
come on this is great! pure adventure for children and complex space to live in!
I love the space, yet just a bit worried to walk down and up even when you just want to sit!