This project involves the renovation of a 40-year-old apartment in Tokyo, originally featuring three bedrooms with ample natural light and ventilation from windows along the south and north walls facing wide streets. The goal was to transform the space into a large, open area that maximizes the surrounding environment. The challenge lay in strategically arranging private spaces like bathrooms and bedrooms within this open plan, while ensuring sufficient storage.

The solution implemented a large closet spanning the entire width of the room, replacing all partitions to create a spacious floor area. Instead of traditional "rooms," the space was loosely divided by substantial furniture, catering to daily functions and establishing a flexible living "place." To seamlessly integrate the large furniture, reflective finishes were applied to surfaces, enhancing daily scenes and diffusing light throughout the space.

A unique design element was introduced with angled closet doors, creating subtle gaps that change the impression based on viewing angles. The existing ceiling and walls were left untouched, while lace curtains were added along the walls, providing vivid contrasts with the original surfaces and acting as new "finishes."

The design emphasized delicate details and finishes, creating a dynamic tension between the old and new. The vision for the future home considered evolving societal contexts, values, customs, and lifestyles. The apartment, initially built in 1979 based on a conventional family apartment plan in Japan, required a flexible living environment accommodating various activities such as hosting guests and working.

Challenging the outdated typical apartment plan, the project aimed to deconstruct the conventional concept of a "room" and reconstruct it as a versatile "place." The focus was on incorporating the surrounding environment and envisioning lifestyles in the new era, allowing for flexibility in response to changes in family structure. An open-floor space was created to offer a sufficient "margin," allowing for future adaptability. This approach, using furniture effectively to utilize the available space, provides unique solutions to meet diverse client demands. The exploration of a future home highlights the immeasurable values of spaces that go beyond conventional standards, emphasizing the importance of evolving evaluation criteria in the realm of house design.

Architects: Office Shogo Onodera | [ Ссылка ]
Area: 69 m²
Year: 2018

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