Ebisu No Ie is a minimal residence located in Tokyo, Japan, designed by Tetsuo Yamaji Architects. This house is for a man; it is also positioned as a place where three generations of families, including parents and future families, can easily gather, and the design was advanced with a free idea that is not tied to a fixed image of a house. The process of designing an architecture that can live, work, and gather was the task of editing the enormous demands of each individual. First, the legal maximum volume was divided into five by a 1.7m x 2.2m module, and a grid-like form consisting of only 100mm x 100mm H-beams was created for both columns and beams.

The architects then shared the game of where to insert the floor in that format with the family using this architecture. The bathroom should have a good view. The bedroom should be calm and above. Dining should be down so that you can have a party. Family communication was born through cross-section puzzles. The house that emerged from it is not a “machine” for the family to rationally perform its assigned role, but a complex and affluent environment where each can freely choose the climate, use, and relationships. I feel that there is an “opportunity” that they can do.

Photography by Kenta Hasagawa