Solving the housing problem in Japanese: original comfort

If there is little land and a lot of imagination, sliding houses and house-stairs appear.

In our country, there is no problem of lack of land, but small-sized apartments on the market are the most popular, because they are available to the majority of the population. In Japan, the standard of living is quite high, but it is more difficult with land, especially in cities, which is why the zealous inhabitants of the Land of the Rising Sun got used to building houses of various forms. This allows you to squeeze the maximum out of the minimum, blend into the landscape and level the accompanying disadvantages of location. So, we have already told about a narrow but roomy house near the autobahn, today we will talk about a "sliding" private house and an equally interesting apartment building.

Sliding house

One of the families in the city of Munakata was lucky to acquire a plot of its own, but the luck ended on its relief - narrow, with a height difference of up to four meters, and even adjacent to the roadway. A typical project could not solve the problems of such a site, the family does not have the funds to change the landscape globally. Hiring a professional to create an individual project for the specifics of the site was also not affordable. The head of the family followed the path of many participants in our portal and designed his house himself, skillfully playing out the shortcomings of the area.

Outside, the house looks like a one-story building, but inside it is a five-level common space without the usual load-bearing walls, and just blank partitions.

Instead, huge storage systems serve as a support for the beamed ceiling structure, they also zone the space, dividing it into common and living quarters.

The whole house is united by a long corridor / staircase, and between the aisles there are platforms leading to the rooms located by the "tram" one after another.

Due to the absence of full-fledged walls, the entire space is visible from start to finish.

Despite the unusual shape, the house has a whole set of functional rooms for a comfortable stay of a family with children - an adult and children's bedrooms, a kitchen combined with a dining room, a living room, a playroom on the second tier at the end, as well as a bathroom and bathroom.

All the decoration is natural - wood on the walls, wood on the ceiling, wooden cabinets / niches / supports, and concrete, judging by the photographs, is clearly heated floor.

The house began to be called "sliding" because of its side view - it feels like the structure is sliding down the mountain, which is also facilitated by the sloping blank facade at the entrance. The absence of windows made it possible to cut off street noise and dust.

Despite the eccentric appearance, this shape and layout was an excellent solution to turn the minuses of the mountainous area into the virtues of the house. The family is happy.

Multi-level building with nine apartments

In Tokyo, in the literal sense, every piece of land is worth its weight in gold, so even on a small plot in one of the most densely populated areas, they managed to squeeze an apartment building. So the fruitful use of a rectangular allotment with a very compact size turned out thanks to the original layouts.

Each apartment is twisted like a spiral - the rooms are located on different levels and occupy several floors, starting from the common courtyard and going up to the common terraces.

As in the sliding house, here the common element is a corridor / staircase, and instead of the rooms blocked off by blank walls, there is a common space. The house is mainly made of glass, as most of the outer walls are occupied by panoramic windows. And privacy is achieved both at the expense of different levels in the premises, and at the expense of roller blinds made of dense fabric. Each apartment has access to an open terrace.

As for the interiors, again, wood, concrete, smooth textures and natural colors. The wood finish goes well with glass.

The patio, like the terraces, can also serve as a seating area.

Regardless of the shape, number of storeys and the number of apartments, the house should be comfortable, and the Japanese manage to make it so in any conditions.

And the Chinese master modularity and earthen cave houses with an increased level of comfort. Designers from Sweden and Australia are attracted rock houses. In the video - already about the domestic non-standard frame.