Location: Musashino, Tokyo
Land Area: 252m2

Building
Use: Private Residence
Structure: Concrete
Floor Area: 178m2

Published
2003	Atarashii Sumai no Sekkei 04	
2001	Nikkei Architecture 2-19
2001	Jutaku Kenchiku 12	
2001	Modern Living 09

Translucent glasses are gleaming along railways. The screen of figured glasses was built to protect a house 
from big noise of trains and passengers eyes. Also this screen cuts a small court from a city and remakes a 
small nature in it. Every time train passes, figured glasses are colored with train bodies and we can feel 
comfortable sound like city’s beat.

There are three areas, inside, court and outside. The relationship of three areas are confusing about in or out. 
In the court we can feel be inside, but it’s outside indeed.

This house was built along the elevated railways in Tokyo. And the railways are made of three very busy lines. 
Their destination is different, but in front of this house they are gathering and passing same road. 
Trains pass every 3 minutes and some trains stop also in front of this house by signals. 
This house has a garden court enclosed by a figured glass screen, and every room is open to the court 
through transparent windows without worrying about trains. Of course the noise is not break down perfectly, 
but high tones are punished. And wind passes the court through the bellow of the screen made of expanded 
metals. We can feel the monopolized small nature in the garden with sunshine, winds and forgetting 
metropolis.

In this house, 2 families live. One is old husband and wife living 1st floor and another is their sun’s family 
with his wife and young daughter living 2nd floor. 1st and 2nd floors are connected by outside stairs in the 
court. So their lives privacy is established softly, and they can feel each other’s atmosphere through the court 
like a big family’s living room. At the sharp corner of the house is used as ateliers not to make useless corner 
in the garden. And these rooms are a little public because they are looked from usual life spaces through 
transparent windows and the court.

Eyes of families are important to concentrate in the atelier. Inside of the house all rooms are connecting 
through sliding doors not to make closed space in the house. It is easy for the families to communicate each 
other because of this kind of plan which is Japanese traditional one and especially it is important now. 
Of course if some one want to be alone in the house, it easy to make a private space to slide doors and 
curtains. When all sliding doors and curtains are open, every room and court will be one space so we can 
feel this house bigger than real size. It is comfortable space.