Weather House

A house that’s like a park, a house that’s a walking path, a house to walk around in until you find the perfect spot for a stop.

For a corner lot in a small residential suburb near Tokyo, Not Architects Studio —founded by Tetsushi Tominaga, Lisa Ono and Aoi Nahata— designed a building that opens out to the surroundings and mimics the nearby parks and walkways. The sidewalk pavement simply continues into the property to start an ascent, up a staircase that skirts the actual building, in the process varying in slope and width, just like natural tracks.

The promenade of stairs and landings connects the different areas of the house, ending on a roof deck with a small lawn. There are plants everywhere, and the vines on the chain-link wire mesh that forms an outer facade are a natural filter and screen vis-à-vis the exterior. Contrasting with the structural minimalism typical in Japan, the Weather House presents two massive walls of concrete that also serve to protect the more private domestic spaces.