Minimalist Sakura Private Residence by Mount Fuji Architects Studio

The Sakura Private Residence sited within a residential neighborhood in Meguro Tokyo. This minimalist Japanese House designed by Mount Fuji Architects Studio. The challenge was finding a feature that would replace the role created by the forest in the Glass Houses. The architects placed two large, swirled belt-shaped surfaces on the premises, consisting of self-standing walls, 7.5 m and 5 m high respectively and made of lace-like steel 3 mm thick that filters light like sunshine through foliage, with holes punched out in a floral pattern depicting cherry blossoms, a traditional Ise paper stencil pattern.

Description from the architect,
“The sense of freedom and openness that makes us want to walk naked inside these houses surely owes to the transparency of the glass itself, but it is the fact that the buildings are surrounded by a pleasant environment –the forest– that counts the most. Since ‘the forest’ itself already provides a comfortable living environment, it is left for the architecture to separate internal to external atmospheres with thin, transparent membranes. They clearly demonstrate that as long as there is an environment suitable for living, a ‘house’ is no more necessary.”