00:05I'm David Sun. I'm the owner of this residence and I live here with my wife, our son, and our
00:12dog.
00:14I'm originally from California but I came to Tokyo six years ago.
00:20I'm Motoki Asuhara, an architect and associate professor at the University of Tokyo.
00:27I greatly enjoy living in the city. As a young person, a place this central in the city is perhaps
00:34otherwise not affordable.
00:36I suppose I was quite fortunate to find this lot but also to have the help of Yasuhara-san.
00:42This house is a three-story building. The total floor area is approximately 50 square meters.
00:50Currently, as our son is still young, we rent out the first floor to a dance instructor who uses it
00:55as a dance studio.
00:56My family and I live only on the second and third floor, which approximates 30 square meters.
01:09This house is in Meguro World, which is a very popular residential area close to central Tokyo.
01:17The site is a short walk away from the Meguro River, which is perhaps most famous for the cherry blossom
01:22trees that line it every spring.
01:27The exterior appearance of this house is just a staircase. This is a very mysterious facade.
01:35Behind the staircase, you can get a glimpse of two doors. The one on the lower level is the door
01:42to the rental property and the second level door is the entrance to my home.
01:52The shape of the site is like a flag hole. And there are many lots like this in the central
01:58Tokyo.
02:00Because land prices are very high lots, often divided into the smaller lots.
02:05So this kind of oddly shaped lots are generated in Tokyo.
02:12As you enter from the second floor, there is an entrance hall. We designed this space, also the study space
02:20for him.
02:20The first thing you see is the shoe cabinet.
02:24Next to that is a modular shelf system, which extends parallel to the shoe cabinet all the way until the
02:30kitchen.
02:31I've mounted two large monitors here that swivel out in case I need to do work from home.
02:39I enjoy cooking a lot. And if it was possible, I definitely wanted a professional grade kitchen.
02:46We were able to set on the professional gas stove and the sink and the range pool.
02:52And I think this maybe unbalanced combination of the big kitchen and the small space is really important character for
02:59this house.
03:01So we put the washing machine under the counter because we cannot find any places to put the washing machine.
03:13The counter is made of the one plywood, which is the same with the finishing of the wall.
03:19The shelving most close to the kitchen is supported by three pillars instead of two.
03:24And the primary reason for this is to store my gelato machine, which weighs about 50 kilograms.
03:31And sitting next to that is a microwave.
03:34Below the shelves is a kitchen wagon that can be drawn out to add more counter space or to serve
03:40as a table as necessary.
03:42In the living space, the high ceiling concrete slab has an opening in it, which lets natural light.
03:51We finished the wall with the silver painted plywood, which reflects the natural sunlight.
03:57Originally, I hadn't planned on there being any indoor staircase in the first place.
04:02I was quite content with a rope ladder, but they presented this idea of a shelf staircase that ended up
04:09being quite useful for storage.
04:14Next to the staircase, we put the toilet.
04:17Inside the toilet, there's a small window, which lets in light and air.
04:24Between the toilet and the staircase is also a small closet, which holds most of our clothes.
04:32The third floor is a minimal bedroom and the shower room, and also the loft space.
04:39Because I cook often, I didn't want any kitchen smells to come into the bedroom.
04:45But at the same time, I didn't want to seal it off from the light.
04:49Hence, we chose glass as a material to prevent some unwanted intrusion.
04:54We made this bedroom as a platform slightly above the shower room floor.
05:00And we made the camp gap, which conveys the natural sunlight to the lower floor.
05:08This sleeping platform is made of cherry, and we chose this because it's really comfortable to sleep on.
05:16It's also slightly raised from the walkway to it, which means that getting up in the morning is actually quite
05:23like getting out of a bed.
05:27We designed a custom shower room.
05:30This is also the window for this bedroom, so we made the wall white to reflect the natural sunlight.
05:38We designed this sink counter with a rounded shape to make it easier to go into the shower room.
05:46We designed the ladder to climb up to the top space.
05:50Here, people climb up and read books or have a meditation.
05:55The skylight also opens for additional ventilation.
06:00Next to the sleeping platform, there is a sliding door.
06:05We make this outer bath and enga space all together as a transition space between garden and bedroom.
06:14I was influenced by my trips throughout Japan, where I have stayed at traditional onsen.
06:20As far as privacy goes, plants are strategically planted.
06:23I think ordinary Japanese people are concerned about this kind of privacy, but he's a little bit different than ordinary
06:32Japanese.
06:33Although it looks like the ground is just dirt, there's actually a complicated interlocking fiber system here that's used to
06:42lighten the entire structure.
06:44It's very rare to have a garden in the middle of Tokyo.
06:50Although a tremendous amount of work and planning went into designing this small space,
06:55we also wanted to leave as much as possible for the post-construction period.
06:59Because knowing what is useful is only something that's doable after we start living here.
07:06I think it is difficult for young generations to get property of sufficient size in the center of Tokyo.
07:13But such a small or unique shaped one is affordable.
07:18I look forward to seeing my family and my garden plants grow in this space.
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