House And Garden By Ryue Nishizawa

Japanese architect Ryue Nishizawa designed the five-storey ‘house & garden’ residence, located in Tokyo, which includes a series of stacked concrete floor slabs bordered with transparent railings and enclosed with walls of household plants growing in pots. Located in a populous commercial district, the building provides a home and a workplace. The site was just four metres wide, so Nishizawa designed a building that has only glass walls to extend the interior visually. Gardens are bordered on each room, so the residents can go outside to enjoy an open environment with maximum sunlight. Staircases spiral up through the building, passing circular openings in the thick concrete floor plates. A greater opening cuts through the roof, allowing taller plants to grow through to the upper terrace.

All images © Iwan Baan