House in Rokko by Tato Architects/Yo Shimada

Perched on the top of Mount Rokko, this house by Japanese architect Yo Shimada of Tato Architects, provides a vista overlooking the city of Kobe in Japan. The architect minimised the physical impact on the site with the use of a concrete pad on the ground, topped by a delicate two-storey steel structure, which is clad on the upper levels with metal panels, but left exposed with glass panels below. This gives the impression of the house floating on the steep slope, light and slightly precarious but making the most of the awkward site conditions. 

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Ant House by mA-style architects

Japanese architects mA-style have recently completed their 'ant house', a windowless cube in omaezaki-city, Japan. The single family residence confronts the street with dark metal panels, but inside the light plywood is lined with voids and holes for storage, creating a warm internal space with a gabled roof and skylights above. 

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Glass House by Naf Architect & Design

Japanese practice Naf Architect & Design, based in Tokyo, have recently completed this seaside house in Etajima, Hiroshima. The structure is formed partly from chunky 1x1x1.5 concrete blocks, echoing the adjacent retaining sea walls that protect the coastline from storm waves. They were manufactured at a  low cost from surplus cement and unused concrete from a nearby factory, and will be reinforced with metal bars during seismic events. The result when stacked together, is a private inlet away from the seaside walkway, that protects against the wind and direct sunlight. 

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Garden & House in Tokyo by Ryue Nishizawa

Ryue Nishizawa, one half of Japanese architecture practice SANAA with Kazuyo Sejima, has recently created a house in Tokyo that rethinks the borders between room and garden, interior and exterior. The project is part of Nishizawa's study into new inner city lifestyles of non-nuclear Japanese families, questioning the diversification and arrangement of living spaces to suit different urban situations. To maximise sunlight from adjacent tower blocks, Nishizawa designed a tall, thin building that was open to the street by slender colomns and fabric curtains, delicately positioned between the concrete slabs. The lack of a conventional facade gives the appearance of a floating new form taking residence between the surrounding enclosed blocks. Each room has access to a garden area or balcony with potted plants, connecting an inner city plot to greenery, which otherwise would be hard to come by in Tokyo. 

Images: Domus

House K by Takeshi Hamada

House K is a white metal-clad dwelling in the residential area of Kadoma in Japan by architect Takeshi Hamada of Hakada Design. Each room inside the three-storey house faces a light well on the corner of the building, allowing air to circulate throughout the interior and daylight to stream into the living areas. The light well is expressed on the exterior elevation by a patten of different sized square apertures, each  affording views to the building's surroundings whilst limiting intruding inward views from close adjacent neighbours. 

Images: Design Boom