From Dwell writer Cathelijne Nuijsink: "It’s not easy to transform a 15-foot-wide building site — wedged between houses in every direction — into a home that feels more spacious than its location allows. Mamm-design’s solution was to dedicate two-thirds of this tiny 653-square-foot house in Tokyo to a 20-foot-high garden room to bring a sense of the outdoors in.
"To achieve a level of comfort on a plot wedged between virtually identical prefab houses, the architects brought in a sense of the outdoors with this courtyard that's finished with a grey brick floor and a live Evergreen Ash tree. The central terrace works as a buffer between the study, atelier and bedroom and bathroom located on both sides of the central space. The kitchen, bedroom, bathroom, and workspace are all connected to the central space, transforming the covered veranda into a surrealistic theatrical setting for day-to-day life.
"The interior is illuminated by skylights that allow natural light to flood almost every space inside. 'We tried to achieve a space in which inside and outside co-exist together,' architect Akira Mada says. 'As we walk around the house, at times we feel the space is totally outside while at other moments it is an interior.'" Full article with photo gallery here.