Faced with the challenge of fitting a small-but-livable home onto a tiny, super narrow plot of Tokyo land, local architect Yasuhiro Yamashita designed this lantern-like Luck Drops house, which—at just ten feet wide and three stories tall—might be one of the most insanely small dwellings in Japan, despite the country's wealth of micro homes. Due to the claustrophobia-inducing dimensions, and the fact that a third of the home sits underground, Yamashita chose translucent, "skin-like" walls to keep the place feeling as light and open as possible.
Inside, the quest for "openness" continues, as even the ceiling that separates the top two floors is perforated and painted a uniform white. Unfortunately, though, the sliver of minimalist space still feels more like an alien space pod, or even a jail cell than, say, a place anyone could ever actually live, despite the valiant effort. See the floor plans and a few more photos, this way.
· Lucky Drops is a Lantern-Like Japanese Micro Home That Glows From Within [Inhabitat]
· Lucky Drops / Atelier Tekuto [Arch Daily]
· All Micro Home posts [Curbed National]