New Japanese House By Alts Design Office Is Influenced By Traditional Design

It is all about the progression through the spaces.

We have often seen new Japanese houses that are…weird, and certainly not “traditional.” Sumiou Mizumoto of Alts Design Office shows us a new house that is strongly influenced by traditional Japanese architecture.

It’s an interesting interpretation. When you visit the Katsura Detached Villa in Kyoto, you do not walk past a BMW. But you do walk through a succession of spaces and end up waiting in a little structure with a view framing the house. You don’t just walk up to the door. In a North American house I would complain about the entire façade taken up with a carport.

It seems really big for a 1,600 square foot house, but that’s because we are not used to the flexible, open and multi-use spaces that you often see in traditional Japanese architecture.

And such beautiful woodwork. This isn’t weird at all, it’s wonderful.