Jutaku
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jutaku or kyosho jutaku (Japanese: 狭小住宅] is a Japanese architectural style focused on delivering original, "micro-home" designs on very small sites.[1]
The Jutaku phenomenon rose in the 1990s as Japan's real estate sites grew increasingly smaller, both from the Japanese inheritance system and the island's growing population.[2][1] According to the architect Kengo Kuma, the first traces of Jutaku appear in the writings of the poet Kamo no Chōmei and the description of his own small house.[3]
The development of smaller, capsule homes was influenced also by Japan's capsule hotel trend, launched in 1974 with the Nakagin Capsule Tower.[4]
Description
Jutaku simply means "house" in Japanese.[5] Jutaku houses and buildings focus on minimalist, multi-functional spaces to make up for their small sites. Jutaku houses often do not blend with their urban context, making the architectural style a good fit for individualist-oriented cultures.[2] Jutaku houses and buildings often feature contorted geometries and daring structural engineering, or awkward site configurations.[5][4]
According to the Japanese architect Yasuhiro Yamashita, a Jutaku house is awkward, built towards the sky, nature-sensitive, personalized, monochrome, built with reflective materials and hidden storage areas.[6]
Examples
- 4x4 house in Tarumi-ku, Kobe, designed by Ando Tadao[7][4]
- Layer House, designed by Hiroaki Ohtani[4]
- Lucky Drops, in Tokyo, designed by Yasuhiro Yamashita[6]
