Nakano House

Nakano House

Suzuko Yamada Architects

Nakano House
© Kei Sasaki

LEAD ARCHITECTS
Suzuko Yamada

PROJECT TEAM
Suzuko Yamada, Malibu Fukuda

CURTAIN DESIGN (BEDROOM, DINING)
Notes Mari Kurokawa

CONSTRUCTION
Kudo Construction Firm Jin Otagiri

CURTAIN DESIGN (BATHROOM)
Some/to

WOODEN STEP
Haruto Hirokado

PHOTOGRAPHS
Kei Sasaki, Naoki Takehisa

STRUCTURAL ENGINEER
Tectonica Yoshinori Suzuki, Kakeru Tsuruta

AREA
52 M²

YEAR
2024

LOCATION
Tokyo, Japan

CATEGORY
Houses

Nakano House
© Kei Sasaki

Text description provided by architect.

A small house for a couple and their two cats. The site was a small lot in a dense residential neighborhood, past a bustling urban shopping street.

The clients' request was simple: "As long as there was an outer shell for living and space for the cats to run around, the rest could come together over time."

Nakano House
© Kei Sasaki
Nakano House
© Kei Sasaki

We began by creating an enclosed space over the full extent of the site. In the space measuring less than 26 square meters, we placed the necessary objects of living, such as a toilet, bath, and kitchen.

With the addition of components that constitute the "outer shell" for living like two stairs, a cat walkway, handrails, and a bench, the space quickly filled up. From inside the house, it is impossible to have every object in view at once.

Nakano House
© Kei Sasaki
Nakano House
© Kei Sasaki

These are massive in relation to the house itself; their scale is the same or sometimes even larger than the scale of the space.

One sees only the blur of light and moist coolness on the rough surface of a concrete wall. It is unclear how far the wall continues or where it ends, appearing large and heavy.

Nakano House
© Kei Sasaki
Nakano House
© Kei Sasaki

The house should belong to the inhabitant but seems to evade ownership, belonging to nobody, existing in place as if it were a mountain or the city itself.

Life takes place between the outlines of the objects. Cooking and eating, bathing and doing laundry―everything fills in the string of voids with clusters of household items. The family of objects appears to have looked for and found their places within the structure, as if settled in response to its form.

Nakano House
© Kei Sasaki
Nakano House
© Naoki Takehisa

Amongst and between them, the two cats slink about and wind from an open window weaves through, as light from outside swallows everything together.

Both life and nature are in tension with the architecture. They exist together and sometimes connect, but never blend. The architecture triggers life and life strengthens the architecture. The goal was to create that kind of relationship in this house.

Nakano House
© Kei Sasaki


Nakano House
© Kei Sasaki
Nakano House
© Kei Sasaki
Nakano House
© Kei Sasaki
Nakano House
© Kei Sasaki
Nakano House
© Kei Sasaki
Nakano House
© Naoki Takehisa


Nakano House
© Naoki Takehisa
Nakano House
© Naoki Takehisa
Nakano House
© Kei Sasaki
Nakano House
© Naoki Takehisa


Nakano House
First Floor Plan
Nakano House
Second Floor Plan
Nakano House
Third Floor Plan
Nakano House
Forth Floor Plan
Nakano House
Fifth Roof Plan


Nakano House
Section
Nakano House
Isometric