‘Tree House’ by Mount Fuji Architects Studio is located in a typical residential area of northern part of Tokyo, Japan. This small 866 square foot (80.45 square meters) residence was designed for a young couple, the property is situated close to neighbor’s houses. The problem with this was a shortage of natural light and privacy, to resolve this, the architects chose a ‘centripetal tendency’ by limiting the building horizontally.

They selected the polar-coordinate-system as the geometry of the architecture instead of the Cartesian-coordinate-system. The rule is very simple. Each level frame was rotated and reproduced by 11.25 degrees and every frame is 55mm higher than next one. As a result, the strong structure which looks like big tree has been realized.

The main space is divided into 4 different characterized spaces by this big tree-like column. All spaces have a different composition in regards to height, width and light amount projected. The high and well lit space is for dining and the low and dim space is for sleeping. In the house people will find their favorite spot, not by order of named rooms but rather with functions.

Photos: Kenichi Suzuki