House in Tondabayashi｜Kumi Inoue Architects
Responding to the client’s desire to incorporate elements from the existing building—such as lighting fixtures, roof stones, and landscaping—into their new home, this project is centered around the theme of providing distinct yet interrelated spaces for both the inhabitants and their possessions. Private rooms are interconnected through alcove-like niches, serving as transitional spaces that house both old and new furniture. This spatial arrangement generates a nuanced layering of privacy and social interaction.
The newly acquired site is a corner lot in a quiet residential neighborhood, where a well-maintained garden and an older residence remained. Rather than discarding the existing building’s furniture, lighting, stones, and planting, the client requested these elements be thoughtfully integrated into the new dwelling. The design approach focuses on creating places for both people and objects, while also exploring the varying degrees of proximity and separation within the daily life of the mother-daughter household.
At the heart of the house lies the living and dining area, around which individual rooms of approximately 4.5 tatami mats each are arranged with careful attention to orientation and sightlines from the surroundings. A large, singular roof unifies the composition. The alcove-like spaces connecting the private rooms accommodate both new and vintage furnishings. The interplay among the furnishings, family spaces, alcoves, and private rooms produces a dynamic spatial texture that modulates the family’s privacy.
The result is a comfortable residence meticulously attuned to scale, spatial relationships, and the arrangement of objects. The juxtaposition of the old hedge and repositioned large garden stones with the newly constructed building creates a dialogue between memory and future, evoking a living environment where nostalgia and modernity coexist harmoniously.
