House in japan

Transformation of a 1960s Wooden Apartment Building in Tokyo’s Minato Ward into a Commercial Rental Property In the heart of Tokyo, Minato Ward, a traditional wooden apartment building, originally comprising six separate units, has been reimagined into a single cohesive commercial space. This architectural transformation involved a complete internal renovation, where all interior walls were demolished to create an open and unified living environment. Enhancing Light and Space on the Ground Floor The ground floor, which previously suffered from poor natural lighting and a somewhat gloomy atmosphere, was carefully redesigned to maximize the use of available light. Akira Nakamura Akira Nakamura Akira Nakamura Akira Naka... More

Arakawa House project is a renovation of a two-story wooden building from the seventies located in Arakawa ward, on the north east end of Tokyo metropolis. Akira Nakamura The ground floor used to be an electronics shop and the upper floor, judging from the disposition, probably served as a dormitory. It was vacant for more than 7 years before the new owner contacted us. Akira Nakamura Given the property’s big dimensions and fragmented inconvenient floor plan, the owner struggled to find tenants and decided to renovate within our Kariage project. At zero cost for the owner Roovice renovates and then takes care of subleasing old vacant houses. The project started in 2015 as a reaction to Japan’s worsening akiya (空き家) p... More

This project involves the renovation of a 120-year-old traditional wooden house in the Misumi region of Shimane Japan into an accommodation facility.The building, which looks out to sea and nestles up against a hill at the back of the house, was built as a detached house for the local landlord. It is built directly on a stone foundation fending earthquakes off by shaking the structure itself.The building is almost semi-outdoor, with only a wooden door as an external wall to blow the wind.  Ryo Tsuchida Ryo Tsuchida Ryo Tsuchida The client wanted visitors to the fishing village, which is characterised by its stone-tile roofs, to experience the local climate and culture, including nature, as it is. Ryo Tsuchida Ry... More

This private house was originally built back in 1991 and is situated in Ōmachi, a locality in the historical city of Kamakura in the Kanagawa Prefecture. The building is placed on a hillside surrounded by nature, resulting in beautiful landscapes in every direction faced at. Akira nakamura Before the modernisation, the kitchen, living and Japanese-style rooms were all separated in their own enclosed area. This fragmentation spoiled the efficiency of the surface and created a complicated circulation inside. Akira nakamura Hence, the renovation started by removing the dividing wall between the living and tatami rooms on the first floor. This shaped a spacious kitchen and living room that covers the whole north-south direction of t... More

Here, on Showa Koji in Higashiyama-ku, Kyoto, row houses built before World War II stand on both sides of the alley. When the tenants changed, the residential units were renovated one by one, and this is the third phase of the project.In the past, repairs and DIY by the tenants spoiled the appearance, but as the project progressed, the roofs and plastered walls were integrated and the different designs of louvers and windows achieved a good rhythm and balance.In this phase, based on market research, sanitary areas were minimised and living rooms were maximised to fit in with the lifestyle of running a small shop or office and living there.The framework of Machiya assembled with old post and beams was emphasised while the finishing materials... More

This is a project to renovate an old house in Nara City. Various buildings of different ages stand on the site, sharing a corridor and a courtyard. The oldest and largest of them is a barn with a large atrium, built to store long logs. The barn had been little used for many years and had become weathered. The client wanted to renovate it into a comfortable living space. Keishiro Yamada We removed a large amount of mud walls that had detached from the bamboo framework due to continuous leaks, rebuilt the basement, reinforced columns and beams that had been weakened by termite and decay damage, and filled the roof and walls with insulation. Keishiro Yamada The atrium, converted into a large living room, leads to a Japanese-style r... More

This project is a renovation of a traditional Japanese house in Nara, Japan for a young couple and their children. The husband spent his childhood here and later his family lived in Tokyo, but in order to improve their work and lifestyle, they decided to renovate the vacant house and move in. Yohei Sasakura The house was built around 1930 and had been extended and remodeled several times, and there were no drawings or other documents available. When we removed the finishes to investigate, the history of the old renovations was revealed one after another in the floors, walls, and ceilings. Yohei Sasakura The earthen floor had been renovated into a kitchen and dining room, "engawa" - a semi-outdoor deck - had been converted into a... More

NIKI-H by Takashi Seisho and Kazunori WakaiA small house designed for wine-making settlers in Hokkaido. The client is starting up a winery and requested a house with minimal essentials to live with his partner. The freezing depth of the ground is 60 cm, which becomes the requirement to obtain anti-freeze properties. Making the most of it, the structure was created simply by installing a roof over the RC foundation deeply rooted underground.    Caption Structural calculations dictate the roof slope of a 60-degree-angle to withstand the snow load. Applying this curve, the gable roof produced an equilateral triangle on the gable façade. Caption The geometry of the triangular prism stands out be a distinctive volum... More

A family of four and a pet's house with the theme of "a comfortable home to live with pets while valuing each family's hobbies and time, with high functionality and efficiency, and no waste in storage." By making the building almost a one-story building with a courtyard, it is possible to continue a barrier-free, safe and secure life that is not affected by changes in the surrounding environment in the future. Osawa Seiichi Dogs and cats can play in the courtyard with peace of mind, and cats can freely come and go to the cat terrace on the second floor using the catwalk in the living room. Osawa Seiichi Osawa Seiichi Osawa Seiichi ISHII Masahiro ISHII Masahiro Osawa Seiichi More

It is a two-family house where each household can live calmly while respecting their privacy.Elevators will be set up, with parent households on the 3rd floor and child households on the 1st and 2nd floors. The LDKs of each household were placed in the south corner where the sunlight was good and the visibility was open throughout the year. It is a residence that incorporates an external space that has a role for each household so that they can live comfortably while maintaining a reasonable sense of distance and interact with their neighbors. Osawa Seiichi Osawa Seiichi Osawa Seiichi Osawa Seiichi Osawa Seiichi   More

1. Sliding doors and hinged doors      Sliding doors have long been used in Japanese architecture. Japanese architecture has a veranda space, and Japanese people have lived by using sliding doors such as shutters and Shoji screens to control the way they connect with nature and people. Isn't it possible to utilize the device that controls the connection with the external environment even in the dwelling unit of an apartment house? With that in mind, this renovation plan was considered.      Generally, the corridors inside the dwelling units of apartments are dark and closed. It is no exaggeration to say that this is fate, because limited natural lighting is naturally assigned to the living room, and the corri... More

We thought about "putting sky closer" in designing of this house.The site is commercial area and formed of sityspace by crammed with various scales from apartments to old houses.When we took a little back and saw that, these cityspace's skyline maked a borderline of sky and living space by composed of aggregates of each architecture.We considered relation of sky and living space in the residential area.We put roof made borderline of sky and living space close to us instead of setiing high ceiling height to get relation with sky and aiming for high ceiling in strict setback regulations and height regulations.If you see in point of macro view, the skyline of roof has distortion and you can get the feeling about it a little came sky close to u... More

Located atop the sand dune hills of Futaba-cho in the Chuo ward of Niigata city, the area has a notable history. 170 years prior, the area was an erosion control forest meant to bind the sand and prevent it from blowing into the city. After a large fire in Niigata, the city underwent a large scale urban development project in the 1960s and 70s, where this erosion control forest gave way to the construction of educational and residential buildings.   Presently, the formerly large residential units of the area are being divided into smaller segments, leading to a densely packed residential area. The site on which “ta house” is built, is also part of this history.   The site is in a flagpole shape, (a flagpole site has a narrow entry path lead... More

Located in the heavy snowfall region of Yokote city, Akita prefecture, the site originally comprised of a large residence, a storehouse and a large Japanese garden. Our design direction was to demolish the original house and storehouse, and rebuild atop the site, a more compact house for the couple. It was very important for the clients to preserve onsite large Japanese garden, as they had nurtured it for many years, and since the site receives such heavy snowfall, they also sought a more comfortable relationship with this environment and its hardships.   With this brief, we proposed a building where all the daily living activities and spaces are arranged on the first floor and the second floor is a low ceiling loft. Thus, in essence creati... More