The Porch – a spiral-shaped house in Japan

Earth population is continuously increasing and yet the surface of our planet remains the same. It means we are faced with the challenge of finding ingenious solutions when it comes to finding a spot to build out homes. Architects Hideaki Takayanagi seem to have at least one of the answers.

They designed and built this unusually small residence located in Tokyo, Japan. The house is sitting in between two apartment buildings. The lot was narrow and small and this would have discourages most of the architects. However, instead of saying it is impossible to build a house on such a lot, the team from Hideaki Takayanagi decided to make the impossible possible. They started the Porch project. It refers to this apparently cramped house.

Built in 2012, the house covers an area of 109.0 square meters. Building it was challenging but the architects managed to create a very beautiful home. The client managed to save money since the site was tiny and to also have a unique home in a nice location. Because of the characteristics of the site, the architects were forced to create a spiral-shaped structure. The floor slabs and the roof are made of 4.5 mm thick steel plates. This makes the house lightweight and more resistant to earthquakes. It’s yet one more advantage for its owner who also gets to enjoy the beauty of the surroundings thanks to the expansive windows and glass walls.{pics by Takumi Ota}.