sugawaradaisuke combines living space + community café in 'light surface house' in tokyo

japanese architecture studio sugawaradaisuke seeks to rearrange the balance between living, working, and community in light surface house, a project that combines a private residence, a workspace and a public café. located in sunamachi, one of the most popular shopping streets in tokyo, where buildings traditionally pack shops, workplaces, a semi-outdoor doma space and the owners’ living spaces in one, the house comprises a gradational relationship between public and private zones.

all images by daisuke sugawara

with light surface house, sugawaradaisuke seeks to create a new lifestyle that combines anew life, work, and community, as these began to separate with the shrinking and modernization of the old shopping street. a gradational relationship between public and private is defined within the house in a sequence of zones that includes a public park and road, the semi-private garden, a canopy space, the doma, an open kitchen-dining space, and private rooms, actualizing an extendable semi-public area according to the situation and lifestyle choice.

a combination of a lightwell and low and high ceilings in the house improves lighting, ventilation, and thermal conditions, while dividing a semi-private open space from private rooms upstairs. the use of the house can be arranged depending on each situation, beginning from a family residence with a children’s room, where only the doma can be a semi-private space as a workspace. after the children leave, it can become open to the public as a community café, while the children’s room will be transformed into private living room.

‘this project shows us a potential of how to rearrange life, work and community for the future society in an individual house,’ explains sugawaradaisuke. ‘“light surface” can improve durability of not only environment but also of the relationship between a person and the society.’