Japan is undergoing a period of change. A succession of buildings with common characteristics are rising within the fabric of Japanese metropolises like trees in a dense forest of buildings. These buildings are distinguished by their great slenderness and their reduced floor space. They call them “Penshirubiru”, which can be translated as pencil buildings.
These are multi-purpose buildings, often dedicated to collective housing, although exceptionally there is also the case of a house-building for a single owner. They have an extremely small footprint, so much so that only the area dedicated to vertical communications can occupy half of the floor. They rise in height above these minimal plots forming slender pieces, like a pencil standing upright, hence their name. When they appear grouped on the same street, it is inevitable to recall the image of a half used pencil box, each worn down to a different length.
This new housing is undoubtedly a response to the new social model that has generated a majority of single-person households and a citizen economy also based on this marked individualisation and on the current daily routines that tend to reconcentrate citizens around very dense areas with a great mix of uses.
The list of brilliant architectural resources contained in this catalogue is too long to go through it in full. It is better to leave it up to the reader to discover each one of the tricks that the architects gathered here have tugged up their sleeves. Let him or her wander through the pages of the book like someone strolling through the city whilst discovering strategies or details that we have missed. We dare to make just one more note before you begin your journey.
Contents
Japan begins for me with the movies, José María de Lapuerta Montoya
Origins of a new urban type, Luis Manovel Mariño
Notes for the traveller, Alberto Nicolau Corbacho
Projects index
1 Kadoya. Atelier Bow-Wow
2 MEM. aat+Makoto Yokomizo Architects
3 Tomigaya Apartments. Satoshi Okada
4 Spira. Hiroyuki Ito
5 TEO. aat+Makoto Yokomizo Architects
6 Apartment I. Kumiko Inui
7 Ebi. yHa architects + L&C Design
8 Katayama apartments. Matsunami Mitsutomo
9 rim. Taketo Shimohigoshi
10 AEM. aat+Makoto Yokomizo Architects
11 12 Studiolo. CAt (C+A Tokyo)
12 FRAMES. Komada Architects’ Office
13 Clover house. Toru Kudo / Architecture Workshop
14 OTM. Koh Kitayama / Architecture Workshop
15 GRID. Hiroyuki Ito + Satoko Watanabe
16 Shimouma Apartments. KUS + team Timberize
17 Tashiro 71 /Chikusa apartment. Hideaki Takayanagi
18 SVELTO. Akio Yachida / Aerial Associates
19 Okachimachi Apartment. Go Hasegawa
20_Apartamentos Roan. Yukio Asari / Love Architecture
21 Cooperative garden. Osamu Nishida + Osamu Iwasaki / ondesign + Erika Nakagawa
22 Kitasenzoku Apartment. Tomoyuki Kurokawa
23 Atago Apartments. Takayuki Soeda / Soeda and Associates
24 Tatsumi Apartment House. Hiroyuki Ito
25 Apartamentos en Tokiwadai. MMAAA, Miki Motohashi Architects & Associates
26 Tree-ness House. Akihisa Hirata
27 Rayon du soleil. Be-Fun Design + タスエス
28 Sarugaku Plural Directed Tower. mhaa / Hirai Masatoshi
29 Tomizawa Komichi. Miurashin Architect+Associates
30 Hatsuse Mita. ihrmk
Japan is undergoing a period of change. A succession of buildings with common characteristics are rising within the fabric of Japanese metropolises like trees in a dense forest of buildings. These buildings are distinguished by their great slenderness and their reduced floor space. They call them “Penshirubiru”, which can be translated as pencil buildings.
These are multi-purpose buildings, often dedicated to collective housing, although exceptionally there is also the case of a house-building for a single owner. They have an extremely small footprint, so much so that only the area dedicated to vertical communications can occupy half of the floor. They rise in height above these minimal plots forming slender pieces, like a pencil standing upright, hence their name. When they appear grouped on the same street, it is inevitable to recall the image of a half used pencil box, each worn down to a different length.
This new housing is undoubtedly a response to the new social model that has generated a majority of single-person households and a citizen economy also based on this marked individualisation and on the current daily routines that tend to reconcentrate citizens around very dense areas with a great mix of uses.
The list of brilliant architectural resources contained in this catalogue is too long to go through it in full. It is better to leave it up to the reader to discover each one of the tricks that the architects gathered here have tugged up their sleeves. Let him or her wander through the pages of the book like someone strolling through the city whilst discovering strategies or details that we have missed. We dare to make just one more note before you begin your journey.
Contents
Japan begins for me with the movies, José María de Lapuerta Montoya
Origins of a new urban type, Luis Manovel Mariño
Notes for the traveller, Alberto Nicolau Corbacho
Projects index
1 Kadoya. Atelier Bow-Wow
2 MEM. aat+Makoto Yokomizo Architects
3 Tomigaya Apartments. Satoshi Okada
4 Spira. Hiroyuki Ito
5 TEO. aat+Makoto Yokomizo Architects
6 Apartment I. Kumiko Inui
7 Ebi. yHa architects + L&C Design
8 Katayama apartments. Matsunami Mitsutomo
9 rim. Taketo Shimohigoshi
10 AEM. aat+Makoto Yokomizo Architects
11 12 Studiolo. CAt (C+A Tokyo)
12 FRAMES. Komada Architects’ Office
13 Clover house. Toru Kudo / Architecture Workshop
14 OTM. Koh Kitayama / Architecture Workshop
15 GRID. Hiroyuki Ito + Satoko Watanabe
16 Shimouma Apartments. KUS + team Timberize
17 Tashiro 71 /Chikusa apartment. Hideaki Takayanagi
18 SVELTO. Akio Yachida / Aerial Associates
19 Okachimachi Apartment. Go Hasegawa
20_Apartamentos Roan. Yukio Asari / Love Architecture
21 Cooperative garden. Osamu Nishida + Osamu Iwasaki / ondesign + Erika Nakagawa
22 Kitasenzoku Apartment. Tomoyuki Kurokawa
23 Atago Apartments. Takayuki Soeda / Soeda and Associates
24 Tatsumi Apartment House. Hiroyuki Ito
25 Apartamentos en Tokiwadai. MMAAA, Miki Motohashi Architects & Associates
26 Tree-ness House. Akihisa Hirata
27 Rayon du soleil. Be-Fun Design + タスエス
28 Sarugaku Plural Directed Tower. mhaa / Hirai Masatoshi
29 Tomizawa Komichi. Miurashin Architect+Associates
30 Hatsuse Mita. ihrmk
