We’ve seen a lot of innovative homes come out of Japan and especially Tokyo, where space is limited and expensive. House Vision Tokyo, now in its second iteration (the inaugural House Vision took place in 2013), is a month-long exhibition curated by Muji designer and creative director Kenya Hara that attempts to understand and explore the concept of the house "as an intersection of industries" and "the ideal platform on which to project ideas about the future:"
Taking the house as the starting point reveals potential solutions for many issues, including energy, communications, mobility, the aging society, the relationship between urban and rural, and the preservation of traditional land use systems.
This year’s theme is "Co-Dividual: Split and Connect/Separate and Come Together" and addresses the question of how to bring individuals, urban and rural areas, and fragmented technologies together through housing. The resulting exhibition features 12 full-scale homes designed by some of Japan’s top architects, including Sou Fujimoto, Atelier Bow-Wow, Shigeru Ban, and Kengo Kuma that propose solutions for closing the gap between architecture and everyday life. The architects have been paired with industry leaders to help implement their ideas.
The exhibition runs through August 28 at the Aomi Station in Odaiba, Tokyo. Read on for a complete list of pavilions and a look at renderings. We’ll update this space as images of the built structures continue to emerge emerge. Full project descriptions are available at the House Vision Tokyo exhibition website.
1. The House with Refrigerator Access from Outside
Yamato Holdings × Fumie Shibata
2. Yoshino-sugi Cedar House
Airbnb × Go Hasegawa
3. Hiragana-no Spiral House
Panasonic × Yuko Nagayama
4. Tanada Terrace Office
Muji × Atelier Bow-Wow
5. Nomad House
Mitsukoshi Isetan × Tanijiri Makoto/Ai Yoshida
6. Rental Space Tower
Daito Trust Construction Co., Ltd. × Sou Fujimoto
7. Open House with Condensed Core
LIXIL × Shigeru Ban
8. Checkerboard Water Garden
Sumitomo Forestry × Nishihata Seijun × Kuma Kengo (exhibition design)
9. Woodgrain House
Toppan Printing × Nippon Design Center, Hara Design Institute
10. Inside-Out/Furniture Room
TOTO/YKK AP × Jun Igarashi/Taiji Fujimori
11. Grand Third Living Room
TOYOTA × Kuma Kengo
12. One Family Under a Wireless Roof
Culture Convenience Club × Nippon Design Center, Hara Design Institute (exhibition design) × Shinya Nakajima (video)