Addressing Tokyo’s Complex and Diverse Housing Environment
Living in inward-facing spaces has become a natural response to life in densely populated urban environments. It is equally natural, however, for urban dwellers to simultaneously seek connections to the world around them, drawn to the richness and potential of their diverse and dynamic surroundings.
The site is located in eastern Tokyo, in an area that retains the historical character of the Edo period (1603–1867). Here, the dense mix of station plazas, multi-tenant buildings, and high-rise apartments is punctuated by pockets of open sky and gardens, thanks to the presence of centuries-old temples. To the north, clusters of mid- to high-rise apartments dominate the skyline, while to the south, rows of old wooden houses line narrow streets. It was in this setting that the client—a married couple with a music studio—requested a residence.
If we were to derive the maximum volume from the diagonals on the two sides of the street, the building would rise vertically like a tower; this would integrate it with the conglomeration of high-rise buildings to the north but set it apart drastically from the wooden houses to the south. On the other hand, if we opted for a more traditional structure—one that resembled the wooden homes to the south—it would stand out too much when those old houses are eventually replaced with new buildings. We concluded, therefore, that the most appropriate form for the home would be neither that of a tall building nor a traditional house.
Given the small area of the site and the couple’s requirement for an acoustically enclosed space, a fully inward-facing volume became the natural starting point. At the same time, however, the couple's lifestyle demanded a sense of spatial expansion beyond the confines of the site. We looked to the surrounding urban environment and discovered a plethora of open spaces amid the dense conglomeration of buildings—lush gardens within commercial spaces and pockets of wide-open space between houses. By incorporating both inward-facing spaces within the volume and outward-expanding spaces formed through planes like the roof and floor, we endowed the home with a variety of spatial experiences. On the north side, the design features a large vertical wall with small windows, aligning with the scale of the apartment buildings, while on the south side, low eaves and large, traditional sliding windows forge a connection with the wooden houses. The result is architecture that bridges and integrates the two opposing streetscapes.

Joint design with Ako Nagao