THE INCREDIBLE NA HOUSE IN TOKYO

na house is a good example of my soft spot for tiny japanese houses. i really like the modern ones, which somehow manage to shrink to unbelievable sizes. still, they look incredibly cute and are fully functional.

the na house is not exactly tiny. but it is transparent and located on one of those cute little tokyo streets. i just see myself wandering around to find it and then just hanging around for a while to enjoy it from all angles.

it belongs to a young couple and it was made by sou fujimoto architects (click here for another of their whimsical tokyo dwellings).

the na house looks like it’s a glass house, the few walls and the white structure emphasizing the illusion. i believe it’s great if you love light but i wonder how well prepared it is for extreme temperatures. but then again, few japanese dwellings are well-insulated.

its 85 sqm are divided into 21 floor plates set at various heights. the concept was that of living in a tree as the clients wanted to feel like nomads while living in their home.

the floor plates are heated and curtains provide temporary separation and privacy in case of need.

this eerie video is by vincent hecht, a french architect currently residing in tokyo and working with sou fujimoto architects. the video is part of a new collection of architecture movies about japanese architecture and it’s amazing!

i found another video which shows the inside of the house. watch it to see how the house looks like at night and with the curtains drawn.

a model of the house was exhibited at mot – museum of contemporary art tokyo. it was part of a show curated by yuko hasegawa (the in-house chief curator) and sanaa (kazuyo sejima + ryue nishizawa). the show was called architectural environments for tomorrow – new spatial practices in architecture and art.