Short and sweet tonight, which almost describes this little house in Japan – just swap out short with tall.  Definitively sweet.  A house born of constraints.  When you don’t have much land upon which to build, and said land costs a fortune, you gotta get creative and make the most of what you’ve got and use those very constraints to push yourself to generate beauty.

A long, tall, slightly curving space dominates the house, a cathedral-like space that ends in a remarkable window with an even more remarkable curtain.  Off of this nave spirals the working centres of the house, interspersed with gardens, all equally and generously glazed.  It’s simple, lovely, poetic, and crafts a delightful place to live in a mere 645 square feet (60 square metres).  And at the very top, you sleep in a treehouse.

Nicely done.  O House by Hideyuki Nakayama Architecture.