Inner Garden

In southern Osaka, Japan, Horibe Associates designed a 911-square foot house that directs views outwards towards rice fields and woods beyond. However, at the center of the home is an open-air atrium with access from multiple rooms, creating garden-facing rooms that give a serene and nature-focused backdrop that changes with the seasons.

Surrounded on all sides by a sweeping Canadian hayfield, the 23.2 House is an angular ode to rural life.

The home spreads out from a courtyard garden in a shape that resembles a hand traced on a sheet of paper. The structure of each “finger” nods to the traditional gable-sided barns that dot the area.

Delicate ferns grow beneath a Myrtle canopy in the courtyard, forming a cool microclimate at the home’s center.

Oriented towards the south for natural light and warmth, the sloped courtyard is adapted to the irregular terrain.