Living Slim: Narrow House Design In Japan

narrow-house-front-door-1

narrow-house-windows-1

Situated in Horinouchi, a town in Japan’s northeastern Niigata prefecture, the property may be triangular in shape but thanks to architect Kota Mizuishi’s visionary design, the resident family of three (a couple and their young daughter) are still able to live quite comfortably.

narrow-house-outside-night-1

narrow-house-hall-1

“The building is in the form of an acute angle, part of a triangle plan derived from the site,” adds Mizuishi. “Furthermore, the design achieves the maximum volume over three planes following the restriction of the setback-line.”

narrow-house-bedroom-2

narrow-house-bathroom-1

The narrow home’s floor plan stretches over two floors plus an attic/mezzanine accessed by a ladder. The master bedroom occupies the ground floor, along with a smaller second bedroom and a full-featured bathroom, both separated from the larger room via a curtain.

narrow-house-bedroom-1

narrow-house-bedroom-4

The use of drapery instead of walls may seem odd to foreign sensibilities but the intent, according to the architect, is to “increase the sense of openness.”