Tokyos impermanent skinny house made to age well with owners
Inheritance taxes on land in Japan means plots often get smaller as they are passed on. This divide and sell phenomenon in Tokyo translates into some very tiny home sites. When architects Masahiro and Mao Harada were tasked with creating a home on a lot only 2 meters (6. 5 feet) wide at its narrowest point, they chose to interpret small as near and use the small scale to their advantage. On the narrowest portion of the lot, along the street, they created a gatehouse: used as both an entryway and offices for the clients. The lower level is a gallery for the wifes art, which is mostly, appropriately, very tiny objects. The second floor, accessible only by a small, wooden ladder, houses the husbands office with walls lined with books and movies (he directs commercial). Everything in the Gatehouse is within touching distance, and this is important, and a positive thing. Masahiro calls this type of design peach skin. The nearness between the materials and my eye make clear the very small gr
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