PechaKucha

The living area features built-in concrete bench seating.

Indoor plants and rocks create a strong visual connection to the outdoors.

Unlike typical layered buildings which usually take the form of stacked floors of similar size, Hirata’s design uses a layering system to create a complex of tangled spaces where the relationship between the indoors and outdoors are ambiguous and surreal.

The result is a low-rise residential complex with features that correspond to the trunk, branches, and leaves of trees, which served as Hirata's main source of design inspiration.

The simple, clean-lined kitchen and dining area is the heart of the home.

A lounge space looks onto a calming moss garden and provides the perfect zen setting to relax with a cup of tea.

Protected by an overhang, and floating above ground level, this tertiary space is known in traditional homes as the "engawa." To sustain a unified look throughout, the floor and ceiling are clad in ipe wood.

A gently winding set of exposed aggregate concrete pads leads to the Wabi House’s front door. Mariscal sought to “hide the house behind a dense forest front yard.” As the crape myrtles grow in, they will further filter the home’s facade.

The Miller House and Garden features a custom-made sofa in the open-plan living area designed by Saarinen with textiles by Girard. The home was widely published and is in part credited for the popularity of conversation pits in the 1950s and 1960s.

Although Wakebayashi is not a professional Noh actor, he performs in front of an audience once or twice a year. For these performances, his preparation goes beyond memorizing lyrics and choreography—he sometimes even visits temples and locations where the story is set. “I need to understand the contents of the Noh play, which is how the main character feels, and the background of the story including history,” says Wakebayashi.

The fourth floor entrance highlights views of the garden—with red and white plum trees, and a three-dimensional Kanze Water pattern carved in the black mirrored granite path.

Molded glass blocks create a reflective fluidity on the building’s facade. “The building's design and materials are inspired by Kanze Water, which is the signature/crest of the client's Noh school, the Kanze School,” says architect Takanori Maita.

Ohtsuki and Townsend's timber arrives at the site precut with traditional Japanese joinery ends and labeled as to where each piece fits in the puzzle.

The city of Kyoto was once filled with such vernacular buildings, but today, close to two percent of its machiyas are being demolished every year.

At the opposite end of the house, the soaking tub gets almost daily use. The bath and shower fixtures are by Dornbracht