Makoto Koizumi‘s 9tubohouse residential house construction project, started in 2002, is primarily known for a remake of “the minimum house” architect Masuzawa Makoto erected for himself to live in 1952. Just after the wa, smaller houses were the best option because materials were in short supply, and there was a need to supply a large volume of housing in the shortages of the postwar period.
Makoto Koizumi’s take hosts a living-dinning space, a kitchen, a work space, a tatami space (bed room), bath and “utility”.
The house is sold online by Commdesign, along with 10 other models of tiny houses by Japanese designers. There’s the possibility to make adjustments to suit the client’s requirements.
“I wanted people to buy houses as if they were buying furniture,” says Yasuyuki Okazaki, the company’s president. “In the past, houses designed by architects were like haute couture. You had to have money and time to own one. But there must be a lot of people out there who want to build houses that suit their tastes. We decided to offer houses on a commercial basis like cars and clothes so that they became more accessible. In a way, they are pret-a-porter houses.”
The theme for this third year of the project is “living with children in a 9 tubo house”. Btw, the name comes from the size of the floor area: nine tsubo (which makes it a cubic box 5.4 meters square), so it’s about living with kids on extremely limited space.
Exhibited at D-akihabara Temporary, Tokyo, until October 10.
Via real tokyo, book of joe, daddytype and TAB.