Triangular Small House

People complain about the cost of land in Australia but land in Japan must be very expensive.

Would you want to build on a 30sqm triangular block?

Thats about the same size as some Australian driveways!

Although these photographs make the house look very narrow is does get a bit wider towards the back.

You can find more photographs on the dornob website where the interior shots make it look “deceptivly spacious” as the agents say!

For more unusual houses go to What the………………….?

 

Japanese Houses

I have certainly featured quite a few unusual japanese houses in the What The ……  section, in the time I have been writing this blog.

This has made me start to wonder why Japan seems to have so many of these unusual houses?

After a bit of research I found there are several reasons, which are somewhat interrelated:

Expensive Land

For a long time land has been very expensive compared with the cost of building.

This has encouraged people to look for ways of building on small and odd shaped blocks of land which require innovative approaches.

Rapid Depreciation

Historically houses in Japan frequently suffered earthquake damage which meant that rebuilding is frequently required.

People thus tend to think of the house as a rapidly depreciating asset that will have no value in 20 -30 years

The Cult of ‘New’

Our own culture of liking to have the latest cars or consumer goods in Japan has extended to houses.

Many Japanese want a new house and because of the high land values are quite prepared to pull down a house that may be less than 30 years old to achieve that.

Having a distinctive design emphasizes the newness of the house.

Few Rules

There is little in the way of planning controls, which also makes it hard for neighbours to object to a ‘Way Out’ design.

As there is no culture of taking civil action for poor design Architects and Designers can to try more unusual designs without commercial risk.

Lack of Mobility

Historically in Japan there is the ‘Salary Man’ culture of working for one company for life.

This together with the high land prices and rapid depreciation means many Japanese really do have one ‘Forever Home’ and they don’t build with an eye on resale value.

 

Would you look to see more unusual designs in Australia?

 

2001 House

Why 2001. . . .  Well I think the architects must have got their inspiration from the  poster, on the right, from the movie  2001 a Space Odyssey.

The house was actually built in Hiroshima in 2007 by the Suppose Design Office.

If you follow the above link you will find more photographs and the several other interesting houses.

 

For more unusual houses go to What the………………….?

 

 

Rebelling Against Large Windows

If you have spent time looking round this blog you will find I am not a big fan of the large windows that are standard in many new project homes.

However I think this house may be going a little bit too far in reducing window size!

The house is by Japanese architect Takeshi Hosaka and is called Room Room.

It is located in Itabashi-ku, Tokyo, Japan.

I found the house on the web site www.dezeen.com, where you will find lots more photographs of the interior and exterior

 

For more Unusual House Photos, Wins, and Fails, have a look at: What the………………….?

 

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