After 4 yeas since conceiving the first idea, the private residence has been designed and built in collaboration between us and an architecture firm. We have involved thoroughly, from the perspective of graphic designer, in the architectural and space designs, interior and furniture designs, as well as landscape design.

The house stands quietly in a tranquil and nature-rich neighbourhood in the vicinity of the urban district of the City of Matsuyama, Ehime. Taking an advantage of the secluded location, the house maintains the introspective feeling of an artist’s studio. The underlying idea behind the whole building is ‘closeness’. It is shown in the minimum openings and the use of frosted glass, as well as the location of the building itself.

On the whole, special attention was paid to find a balance between the simplicity and fluidity of two-dimensional design, our expertise as graphic designers, and the architectural functionality and flow lines of everyday life. It was our goal to achieve a design that is inevitable and achieve a universal and neutral appearance by softening the characteristics of a wooden structure including the form, foundation and furnishing, as much as possible. Also, in terms of the colour, white represents both maternal affections, which embraces everything, and universality, which transcended generations. More and more modern architectures becoming mere facades, we wanted to visually redefine the way of living should be and aimed to create a building which embody the concept.

Maintaining both ideal appearance and restriction of laws and specification, we have found a tight balance between the two opposites.