Part 04 of my series of apple pencil + ipad + procreate drawings…i’m on a roll!
Tokyo is one of the most densely populated cities in the entire world and I once heard that for the average amount of living space ONE American lives in, the same sized space is occupied by EIGHT Japanese people. This density of population permeates into many aspects of Japanese culture and most obviously into their definition of “home”. Houses are compact, well designed, meticulous and there seems to be a universal emphasis on quality over quantity - as in, you only have space to fit ONE couch in your place so it better be a nice one.
The recent trend is to go with a compact, yet high end, simplistic, warm design. It’s common in Japan for a young couple to purchase a plot of land and then build their own home on top of it. I had at least three of my friends do this, designing their dream home from the ground up and working with a company to plan out every detail to their liking. This style of living in Japan makes each and every home feel like a very real expression of the humans occupying them.
As I was looking through photos I noticed two homes that really caught my attention…
HOUSE 1.
HOUSE 1 : Enoshima. I almost couldn’t believe I was looking at a house. A tall, narrow, white building with a singular square window and thin wooden door squeeeeezed so delicately between an old traditional house on the left and a modern apartment complex on the right (not pictured). My JAW DROPPED when I saw it because I felt like I instantly wanted to know the people inside. WHO ARE YOU incredibly suave and cool humans who occupy such a unique and simple space??? What kind of furniture do you have? Why the ONE window??? What jobs to you hold? I wanted to know everything. I was so perplexed and intrigued, inspired and confused, in awe and in shock…if that isn’t good architecture then I dont’' know what is.
HOUSE 2.
HOUSE 2: Toride. I have a friend named Liane who lives in a cozy corner of the Japanese countryside called Toride -more specifically, Inatoi. Out there, the trains run only twice an hour and are usually comprised of only one car (where Tokyo trains have 15+). It’s the true Japanese countryside and I always felt refreshed when I visited her and her family. I would take the local train out 40 minutes or so, exit the quiet station, walk down the main road, turn the corner at the farm (yes, it was a little patch where crops were growing) and pass THIS HOUSE on the way. There always seemed to be a car parked perfectly like tetris into the garage. How did they manage to reverse the car into that tiny space??? The wooden slats on the side added a cool texture to the home and it just sat like a tiny and perfect box in the middle of the countryside. It always made me smile when I walked past it and reminded me how inspiration can be found in the middle of nowhere- you just have to look.