Retreat House
A site was literally a gap in between a typical detached house and an apartment, with only a width of a parking space, located in the suburbs of the Tokyo Metropolis. The 2.5-meter-wide single-family house consists of a storage in the middle, and floors adjacent to it shifted by half floor heights. There are no doors in between the rooms, instead the elongated stairs sandwiching the storage separate and connect the rooms at the same time. This was a response to the client who felt difficulties in communication in the past, living in houses with ordinary plans with closed bedrooms. The storage is autonomous, not belonging to any of the rooms, hence the usage of the rooms can be rearranged. The size of the storage is too big for the tiny house, thus confuses the perception of space. It is like a huge chest inside the envelope of a tall single room, while the stretched stairs become reminiscent of an alleyway in a medieval city. The minimal interior is a retreat from the world of mass consumption; the homogeneity and repetition emphasize the transition of natural light. The house is a small and tranquil place to return to among the difficulties of the present.
