Architect: Hiroyuki Oinuma (HOAA)
Project: House in Nakano
Location: Tokyo, Japan
Area: 96.38 square meters

he house-studio that Hiroyuki Oinuma (studio HOAA) designed for himself occupies a lot in a densely built neighborhood of Tokyo. Embedded within a tight network of surrounding structures, its only open frontage faces north onto the street rather than toward nearby buildings—a typically disadvantageous exposure that here becomes a design opportunity. The main façade is screened by a raised, curving walkway known as the “Kazari Garden,” a potted garden that both separates the house from the street and connects it to it, fostering a visual and social relationship with the public realm and encouraging spontaneous interactions with passersby. Inside, the path continues through a sequence of split-level spaces that follow the site’s changes in elevation. Rooms unfold in a continuous progression, marked by stairs, handrails, and custom-built furniture, as if the external promenade were carried seamlessly into the interior.