At only 10 feet wide, the Imai House of Okazaki, Japan is skinnier than some gingerbread houses. To make the narrow building site work for a family of three, Japanese studio Katsutoshi Sasaki + Associates tweaked the proportions of each room to suit its function, so the child's sleeping loft is just 4 feet high, while the living room has a double-height ceiling, so that natural light can come in from a secluded roof terrace at the top. While other thin Japanese homes twist and turn through zig-zagged project sites, this one stretches back 68 feet without any room for corridors, which is why the whole interior is laid out in a railroad style, with each room leading into another.
According to a project statement, Katsutoshi Sasaki "adopted a way to construct a house by reinterpreting scale, natural light, and the use of each room." Because there wasn't enough space available to create a separate garden, the firm added an indoor patio near the back of the ground floor—which is also recessed in the front, to make room for a sheltered driveway—that can be accessed through a wall that slides open. But despite how specifically the rooms were calibrated to fit with certain functions, the aim was for a setting that "becomes neutral; you can sleep, dine or relax whenever you like. For example, dining in the inner garden may be more enjoyable than in the dining room." The result is definitely on the cozy side, but it looks downright roomy next to the thinnest building on the planet.
· Katsutoshi Sasaki's Imai house is just three metres wide [Dezeen]
· Come Take a Tour of the Thinnest House on the Planet [Curbed National]