House in Fukawa by Suppose Design Office.

Located in the suburbs of Hiroshima, House in Fukawa is a grown up version of a “treehouse” designed by Suppose Design Office for a young family of four. The house occupies a small block and managing to squeeze in three bedroom boxes which cascade and suspend from the central “tree trunk” – a central staircase. The boxes are clad in plywood and their unusual placement carves the space in unusual configurations, creating a series of spaces in between used for eating, reading, relaxing and living. It is almost impossible to judge the scale of this house, to separate the bridges from rooms, indoor from outdoor space…

“In architecture we tend to measure everything using a certain scale. People experience a space to be much bigger if they cannot figure out the exact size of it. Within the limits of the plots I tried to grasp a sense of infinity. Similar to the lack of scale in the sky or the sea, residents in this house cannot sense the scale or distance between each other.” Makoto Tanijiri, SDO.

No doubt a huge amount of creative and clever thinking has gone into the design of this house. The end result is intelligent and interesting, almost poetic, and there is so much about it that I truly love. Having said that, I have mixed feelings about whether or not I would enjoy living here. Perhaps I am “too conservative” for my own good and prefer my residential spaces more clearly defined. If this was a public building, or a hospitality venue, then perhaps I would feel entirely differently about it. What do you think?

[Via Dwell. Photos by Toshiyuki Yano.]