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Suppose Design Office Breaks a Few Taboos

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Here’s a house in Hiroshima that is a little odd.

As part of coping with Japan’s extreme shortage of space, Suppose Design Office found a way to create a sense of an outdoor space where there is none available.

This entire house is actually all indoors. The building is hard up against other concrete buildings in an unforgiving and dreary cityscape affording no opportunity for vistas.

Instead, Suppose Design Office cleverly created the appearance of an outdoor room flanking each side of the interior – by having part of the roof translucent so that daylight from above seems to be just outside the “house” (which is actually the central room or rooms).

Thus, the stairs are really indoors, just as much as the kitchen is.

And the bathroom is one of the “outside” spaces. Which is charming.  But where is it? Here’s where the rule-breaking comes in.

It is right outside the dining end of this kitchen/dining room. The toilet is actually within sight-lines of those eating at this table in this simple kitchen.

To create an “outdoor room” the bathroom is chosen to be that outdoor room.

Which would be lovely off a master bedroom – to feel as if you walk outside to shower. However, off the dining end of the kitchen/family room, it is just strange.

The other end of this same room breaks yet another taboo – for me. The space in front of the TV, where someone might want to sit and relax – is right where someone washing dishes would be standing at the sink trying to clean up.

???

There is something extremely idiosyncratic and odd about some Japanese architecture. Part of it comes from a tradition of an acceptance and embrace of the true harshness of the natural world – rather than to try to create comfort as a barrier or as protection against nature (which has been the Western way).

But this house from Suppose Design is quite hard to understand.

Source: CubeMe