Snow Hill Industrial Designer House, Tokyo by Koji Tsutsui Architect + Associates

Koji Tsutsui Architect & Associates design a house for an industrial designer in a quiet residential area in Tokyo. It was required that this house be not only private in nature but also in coexistence with the client’s feelings for his life’s work, the industrial design. The client gave Koji Tsutsui several requirements including an open atelier to outside; a study with a view to the car; a living/ dining space where his treasured industrial products will be displayed; and completely separated guest room and bed room for sleep.



























On the other hand, considering that the act of thinking about design is part of the client’s daily life, the division between designing and living needed to be as ambiguous as possible. Each room had to be divided while also softly connecting them together at the same time.






















The living/dining room is a core, with its large opening that provides external views and natural light. Ambiances of sunlight and landscape are introduced to the rooms connected to this core through internal openings, in a smooth and indirect manner. All elements are made into a primitive space composed of purely architectural factors such as floor, wall, ceiling, stairs, void and openings.






















The result is an internal space as an abstract substance. Valley of walls on third floor, refreshing expanse in the living/dining room on second floor, and cave-like study and garage on ground floor; everything is woven together into a landscape that offers a variety of sceneries. The steel-frame structure was adopted for an easier expression of the softly connected sequences.

Taking advantage of the steel’s lightness and strength, some rooms are suspended while others feature beams with dynamic skip, in order to realize a sense of free flow within the entire space. Steel sheet used on exterior walls also serves as window glazing system, expressing in an abstract manner to the outside the flow of space set free by this steel frame.