Minimalissimo

N House

architecture

Stay up to date

The Minimalissimo newsletter is sponsored by aprile, the hanging chair.
It's also supported by Mitja Schneehage and 29 others.
If you enjoy what we’re doing, consider joining this group.

Although having the same name as Sou Fujimoto’s famous N House, the one designed by Aoki Jun is an interior spectacle that is enclosed within a normative exterior.

Based in Tokyo, architect Aoki Jun is used to radical architecture that is sprouting across the city. Wanting to completely go against that notion, he mended his new design with its context, so the highlight became a minimalistic interior space. As a tall structure, the house opens up on the lower floor with a vast space, having only simple wall partitions, linear furniture and wooden fixtures.

Cascading down from above are skylights that get softened with textile installations from Yoko Ando of Nuno Corporation. These fabrics help give a mystical glow to the surrounding area and lessening the harshness of the direct sun. Beyond the floating skylights is a spiral staircase sculpted to complement the contrast of the geometry’s masculinity. It leads to the upper portion of the house, which is cladded with a wooden floor to bring the house to a complete whole, warming up the minimal space that Aoki introduced in the lower floors.

Smartly designed to give the space natural light, the architecture was transformed into a whole new environment of living that is both stunning and unique. It’s breathtaking to see that design hasn’t lost its pace to commercial products and beautifully minimal visions like Aoki Jun’s N House can still exist, even if it’s subtle and unseen.

In the shop