ninkipen! completes hook house in habikino, japan
In Habikino, Osaka Prefecture, the Hook House is devised to host a quiet dialogue of continuity. Japanese studio ninkipen! has built the residence for a family of four beside the owner’s birthplace with a design that builds upon the history of the site — steeped in childhood memories as well as ancient traditions of grape and fig cultivation.
The adjacent original home is a U-shaped structure with gardens housing Japanese pines, camellias, and weeping plum trees planted by the owner’s late father, and flowering agapanthus and ajuga cared for by his mother. Hook House completes this tableau, forming a gentle enclosure around the garden, shaped from a rich palette of various woods. Its low lying form completes a pentagon at the farthest edge of the site, subtly bulging outward like a hook.
all images by Hiroki Kawata
rich palette of woods forms an enclosure around the garden
This distinct geometry of obtuse angles softens the boundary between the old and new with natural intention, and the shared courtyard within — now planted with new vegetation — becomes reimagined as a bridge between the two homes. In dialogue with its natural context — backdropped by the contours of the Kawachi plains and the iconic Ikoma and Kongo mountains — House House exudes a quiet unassuming presence. Ninkipen! infuses the project with a raw natural character defined by Kumano cedar pillars, Yoshino cypress floors, and zelkova, rattan, oak, and black cherry woods as accents.
The Osaka-based architects top the house with a striking pentagonal roof, which devoid of supports, transitions seamlessly into a hipped roof. A single round pillar wrapped in black paper cords anchors it as a centerpiece in the living room. On the home’s southeast side, frosted glass is fitted to maintain privacy while letting in soft, diffused light. The blurred silhouette of the crape myrtle tree beyond poetically creeps into the room, creating a sense of connection to the outside world that enhances the calm within.
ninkipen! completes Hook House
a family home in Habikino, Osaka Prefecture
the low lying form completes a pentagon
frosted glass is fitted to maintain privacy while letting in soft, diffused light
a distinct geometry of obtuse angles softens the boundary
a single round pillar wrapped in black paper cords supports the roof

a striking pentagonal roof transitions seamlessly into a hipped roof
a raw natural character is defined by a material palette of various rich woods
House House exudes a quiet unassuming presence

the residence sits beside the owner’s birthplace










project info:
name: Hook House
architect: ninkipen! | @ninkipen
location: Habikino, Osaka Prefecture, Japan
lead architect: Yasuo Imazu
general constructor: Nakaseko Koumuten
structural engineer: Ippei Yasue / WORK SHOP
garden landscaping: Youhei Miyake / NIWADUKURIMIYAKE
photographer: Hiroki Kawata