Minimalissimo

House in Koamicho

architecture

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This house in Hiroshima, Japan was designed by Suppose Design Office. The house experiments with the boundaries of inside and outside; some of the rooms are inclosed, while others act as "garden rooms" and are exposed to the elements. The design allows the inhabitants to experience interior and exterior as a continuous flow of space, blurring the traditional distinctions between the two.

Two children's bedrooms and the master bedroom are on the main floor, along with three garden spaces which are accessible from each room. The second floor holds the living spaces and looks down into the gardens on the lower level. The house is quite small, only six rooms in total. Nonetheless, it serves as an elegant living space for this young family.

I am a huge fan of the layout of the rooms and the materials. The staggering of the garden spaces with the interior spaces gives the house an airy feel and allows for tons of natural light. The lightness of the gardens is contrasted with the heavy concrete walls, which have been left bare to preserve the integrity of the material. This is a house full of opposites: heavy and light, inside and outside, wide and narrow. The contrasting elements come together for a beautiful experience which proves the saying: opposites attract.

In the shop