What makes the Japanese approach to design so unique?

The following 3 architects are among our favourites when thinking of new and interesting ways to approach housing.

Sanaa

Led by Ryue Nishizawa and Kazuyo Sejima, SANAA began in 1995 in post-bubble Tokyo and has garnered international acclaim for their distinct architectural style characterised by minimalism, transparency, and fluidity. Both Nishizawa and Sejima also run their own individual practices, sometimes collaborating and other times not. 

Their designs often blur the boundaries between interior and exterior spaces, creating environments that seamlessly integrate with their surroundings. Their innovative use of materials such as glass and steel results in buildings that appear weightless and ethereal.

Sanaa uses obviously artificial building elements, rather than mimicking natural forms or applying natural camouflage to the building with wood or stone. And yet, by their placement and arrangement, Sanaa’s architecture is able to enhance human connection to nature; accentuating nature and directing human perception to it.

Recent projects include the Sydney Modern Museum and La Samaritaine in Paris. 

Three residential projects:

• Moriyama house by Ryue Nishizawa 

• Tokyo Garden & House by Ryue Nishizawa 

• Nishinoyama House by Kazuyo Sejima

Go Hasegawa

Since opening his studio in 2005, Go Hasegawa has established himself as a leading architect in Japanese residential architecture. In his debut work, 'House in a Forest' (2006), Hasegawa designed a gabled attic space supported by struts under a gabled roof. Here he created a whole new spatial sensation. 

Often varying in size and use— be it a small hut in a forest, a house in a dense urban neighborhood in Japan, or a plaza in a metropolis— he challenges pre-existing ideas on largeness/smallness, heaviness/lightness, and newness/oldness, and seeks in them values that have not been recognized previously.

“Architectural spaces can take away or awaken abilities and sensations that we humans possess innately. Through the practice I’ve always been conscious of that—how can we expand our abilities and sensations with architectural spaces?”

Hasegawa’s projects often explore and amplify an element of surprise. For example: Pilotis in a Forest is a house high up on stilts, so that the living spaces are among the foliage. House in a Forest has a translucent and glowing timber ceiling. House in Kawasaki has a timber floor on the ground level that slopes with the fall of the land. 

Three residential projects:

• House in Yokohama 

• House in Kyodo 

• Pilotis in a Forest

Shigeru Ban

Shigeru Ban is a visionary architect renowned for his innovative use of materials and humanitarian initiatives. With a deep commitment to sustainability and social responsibility, Ban's designs elegantly merge functionality with environmental consciousness. 

Ban is perhaps best known for his pioneering work with paper tubes as building materials, such as disaster relief housing following events such as earthquakes and tsunamis. Ban's portfolio reflects a profound dedication to serving communities in need while pushing the boundaries of architectural innovation. 

Ban’s work is not limited to museum buildings and disaster shelters. He has also put his mind to the design of the house, and through his projects seeks to uncover an essential element of a house. In Furniture House, Ban uses bands of cabinets to act as walls and define rooms. The Naked House explores a large translucent shell with most housing elements (bedrooms, rooms, furniture) mobile, free and loosely arranged. The Life Core House arranges all essential functions for every day life (bath, toilet, kitchen) in a central plumbing core, and allows the remaining space to be flexible open plan living. 

Three residential projects:

• Furniture House

• The Naked House

• Life Core House, for the House Vision exhibition