Architecture

gré is a minimalist home located in Shizuoka, Japan, designed by Suzuki Architects. This combined home and business sits on the skirts of Nihondaira, a hilly area just outside central Shizuoka City. The neighborhood is a mixture of large old farmhouses, tea fields, and new housing developments, with small shops nestled into the laid-back surroundings. The streets curve slightly as they climb gently toward the hills as if they were built on top of the old paths between fields. They lead, too, to openings where Mt. Fuji suddenly comes into view. It is in just such a spot that this house is located. The first step toward ensuring a smooth coexistence between the house and its surroundings was to think about how walls could be used to provide a sense of separation from the neighborhood and modulate the residents’ level of privacy.

House in Machida is a minimalist home located in Tokyo, Japan, designed by Roovice. The residence is situated on a narrow sloping corner lot. The building sits atop a concrete foundation that is cut away at the lower level to provide space for parking. The interior is characterized by a pegged climbing wall which allows the residents to customize their climbing experience. A portion of the space utilizes corrugated metal to partition the programs, resulting in a industrial yet clean aesthetic. Custom cabinetry and storage were produced in plywood, bringing down the overall cost of construction.

Two Apartments Across the Park is a minimalist apartment located in Chiba, Japan, designed by SO&CO. The exterior consists of a raw concrete facade with a triangular staircase leading to a small alleyway entrance hidden from view. The interior contrasts against the exterior by utilizing warm materials and light wooden floors. For each loft, the wooden floors extend upward to the wall furthest from the entrance.

House in Porto is a minimalist residence located in Porto, Portugal, designed by João Vieira de Campos. The project presents a single-family home divided in two separate volumes – main house and external supporting facilities – arranged in order to confer a rational balance to the diversity of uses to the surrounding outside spaces. The house has two floors. The ground floor has a garage for two cars, a kitchen and a living room with a small home office. The 1st floor has four bedrooms, toilets and a laundry room. The exterior spaces are divided into two groups; access to the main house – gray entretons – and garden spaces which have direct relation to the living room, kitchen and balcony of the rooms. The refined texture of the concrete in the walls and exterior ceilings, metals and glass are the main constructive elements.

House K is a minimal residence located in Maebashi, Japan, designed by Shinta Hamada Architects. House K is sited in the suburbs of Maebashi city in Japan. There are many similar houses around the site which create a consistent landscape. The architects tried to make small changes by creating a new context within a limited site area. The designers designated the rooms as either common spaces or private spaces. They placed the private spaces on the north side of the volume and common spaces on the south side where the surrounding is open. In addition, to connect two different spaces, there are “free spaces” arrange in between.

Myttinge is a minimal summerhome located in Stockholm, Sweden, designed by Hermansson Hiller Lundberg. The home is situated within a beautiful scenic forrest, rich with trees and greenery. A series of dark panels array the exterior facade to have the home blend in with its surroundings. A series of narrow floor-to-ceiling windows provide visual access to the environment around the home. The roof consists of a patch of grass that further blends the home with its natural context.

The Sun Garden is a minimal nursing home created by Germany-based designers Ecker Architekten. The focus of the architects initially lay on the modules of the residents’ rooms, which were designed according to the daily routine of the residents and the needs of the nursing staff. The rooms were created to be spacious and welcoming. This was important for the family-run foundation, not only as a comfort for the residents, but also to enable the nursing staff to work optimally. The light-filled interiors are developed entirely from the point of view of the residents: standing, sitting and lying down. The view into the park-like environment is always possible and offers through the floor-deep glazing bedridden residents a reference to the environment. Another focus of the design is on the common areas. The corridors of the two residential floors are expanding into recreation areas as communicative centers. These are highlighted by acoustically effective wood paneling in oak on the wall and ceiling as a separate room layer. A finely tuned range of natural surfaces creates an atmosphere with a high quality of stay despite the high hygiene requirements.

House in Shakujii Park is a minimal home located in Tokyo, Japan, designed by Hitoshi Wakamatsu Architect + Associates. The wooden structure is built on a corner lot within a quiet residential neighborhood. A portion of the home is cantilevered to allow for covered parking, and also serves as a small internal courtyard. The private living spaces are located on the upper level, and the staircase is showcased through a large glazing facing the street.

Chalet GRAND-PIC is a minimal home located in Austin, Canada, designed by APPAREIL architecture. The design of the chalet GRAND-PIC results from a sensitive reading of the magnificent forest site in which it takes place. The goal was to be guided and to take inspiration from the characteristics of the terrain. Upstream, this experience allowed us to capture the full potential of the different atmospheres. The couple owner wanted a warm space, able to receive family and friends, in connection with the environment. The chalet GRAND PIC offers, by a simplicity and a sober materiality, a unique symbiosis experience between nature and architecture.

32.4 ° House is a minimalist architecture project located in Kanagawa, Japan, designed by naf architect & design inc. As the name suggests, a square plane within the home was rotated 32.4 degrees clockwise from the center, and four right triangle gaps were formed between itself and the outer plane. The right angles form balconies for the entrance and each room. For the inner planes, the architects placed large windows in order to extract as much natural light as possible.

Slide Block is a minimal architecture project located in Tsukuba, Japan, designed by Kichi Architectural Design. The second floor volume protrudes, it seems to float in the air. Because it is a very simple facade, pedestrians can not imagine inside. The living room and dining room on the first floor are a space without walls. One can look at the courtyard surrounded by high walls when you are in the first floor room. One can enjoy a meal casually in the spacious terrace with a roof along the dining room.

House in Bungotakada is a minimal architecture project located in Oita, Japan, designed by Yabashi Architect & Associates. The owner wanted a spacious and bright space that would also accommodate guests. In order to lower costs, the architects chose to create split-level segmented programs. The split levels would divide the space without the use of partitions or walls. In doing so, each space is opened up to another, allowing light and wind to flow throughout the entire home.

Ajiroen is a minimal architecture project located in Tokyo, Japan, designed by TYRANT. The purpose of this project was to renovate and open up five buildings owned by Ajiroen, a long-established retail shop specialized in Japanese tea in Yokoyama-cho, Hachioji City, to local people as a commercial and cultural facility. Located seven or eight minutes by foot from the north gate of JR Hachioji Station, the rectangular plot is sandwiched between Koshu Kaido Avenue and a public walk on the north and south sides. On this plot five buildings stand close together: two storehouses (kura) built in the late 19th century to early 20th century, a Japanese-style house and a shop built immediately after World War II, and a reinforced concrete building built in the late 1960s to the early 1970s. As part of this project, a small town block was created as a conglomeration of the history of Hachioji and the consolidated elements of the community by rebuilding the shop, renovating the four other buildings, laying a garden path (roji) north and south through the elongated plot, and making a small open space garden (niwa) facing the public walk.

Kamiyami Residence is a minimal architecture project located in Tokyo, Japan, designed by PUDDLE. Kamiyami Residence is a double-story house on top of a design office renovated from a forty year old steel frame structure which had been left untouched for several years. The property is built on a-sloping side street of a commercial area- with unique shops, offices, restaurants and cafés called “Okushibu” connecting Shibuya Station and Yoyogi Park. The street leads to a quiet residential area adjacent to Okushibu, with a number of embassies. The designers started planning this building with the idea it will be a case study for a nodal point connecting the two areas -even though it’s only a small project.

Highgate Bowl is a minimalist architecture project located in London, United Kingdom, designed by HASA Architects. The project, inspired by the frame and construction of the original building, explores the possibilities of this forgotten piece of the city by bringing it back into use through a series of small-scale interventions. These sensitive interventions take the form of new external and internal pathways, as well as rooms and furniture pieces that guide visitors through the large open bays of the glasshouse while framing views of the surrounding landscape and Bowl beyond. The practice visited the site in January 2017 and set about devising a proposal that would result in the restoration of the derelict glasshouse, creating a versatile event space that could be used for a range of activities including exhibitions and performances.

Silhouette Lens Lab is a minimalist architecture project located in Linz, Austria, designed by X Architects. The facility is a production and warehouse center characterized by an array of circular windows that pivot open horizontally. One side of the building’s facade features a wall of smaller circular openings that playfully interact light with shadow when viewed upon from the inside.

Ono-Sake Warehouse is a minimalist warehouse located in Ibaraki, Japan, designed by Eureka and G architects studio. The complex consists of logistics warehousing, shops, and offices for a liquor store that stores and sells on the roadside at the boundary between the commercial and residential areas. The architects decomposed the roadside warehouse building, creating visibly wide open spaces, and aiming at an architecture that would be comfortable for the local residents. The structure is made with wood, steel and plaster work and feature large windows and wooden floors.

Mami House is a minimalist architecture project located in Porto, Portugal, designed by NoArq. The rectilinear concrete home was constructed on a very limited budget. As a result, extra effort was taken to make sure everything was kept as simple as possible. The staircase is situated towards the center of the home, and serves as a partition between the adjacent programs. Large glazings provide abundant natural light to the interior, and are framed in wood.

MU is a minimalist architecture project located in Aomori, Japan, designed by Ikeda Yukie Architects. The house serves as both a residence and photo studio for the clients. In order to create an openness that would also protect against the harsh climate, the architects created a deformed quadrangular pyramid that faces the street. Transitioning from a private to public space is as simples as opening the sliding partitions within the space.