open sky house in tokyo exposes everyday life to the elements, designed by YSAA

as a solution to expensive land prices and tight planning rules in tokyo, yoshitaka suzuki and associates (YSAA) has created this unique home for a couple and their three young children. when looking to build their family home, clients zajirogh and minori tkahashi found that they could only construct 656 ft2 (61 m2) of gross floor area – that’s 129 ft2 (12 m2) per family member – on their modest site. to get around these difficult urban constraints, zajirogh and minori decided to live without a roof over half of their house.

images courtesy of yoshitaka suzuki and associates (YSAA)

built over two floors, the main feature of ‘open sky house’ is its exposed living room. in this double height space everyday life is exposed to the sun, rain, and wind. what may seem unusual to most has become a way of life for the tkahashi family. yoshitaka suzuki explains, ‘they enjoy the freedom that only this house can provide. the children run around with umbrellas on rainy days, build a pool on hot days, and curl up in sleeping bags under the night sky with their friends in the summer. adults also gather to build fires, bake and smoke.’

the floor plan of the house is kept simple, with the kitchen, dining and living areas on the first floor and the bedrooms on the second. thanks to their background in interior design and general contracting, zajirogh and minori were very much involved in the design stage. the couple has also helped by constructing and painting rooms, giving the home a personal touch. just like the family that inhabits it, open air house is conceived to grow and adapt. zajirogh and minori will continue to live in the house while building the parts of their lives that they need at any given time.

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project info:

project name: open sky house

location: tokyo, japan

architects: yoshitaka suzuki and associates (YSAA) + zajirogh + minori tkahashi (zajirogh and minori tkahashi are the project client)

total floor area: 613.65 ft2 (57.01 m2)

design: 2018

completion: february 2019