The use of sizes is conventionally associated to clothing… However, the universal art of fitting is a little bit different in some parts of the modern world. Some countries use characters for measure; other countries use numbers. In this particular case, I will use both systems to describe one fine example of how to fit a house into a tiny plot.

We have already been amazed by the unbelievably small Japanese houses on tiny urban plots not once or twice. Yet still, modern Japanese architecture is so unique in style, so positive in form, so life-affirming in its ideas, that we can’t help adore it over and over again.

For me personally, it can be described as a manifest of young, unconventional, self-assertive life! So let us get acquainted with the following example of the Osaka House.

A white sculpture invites us to enter into an amazing housing project… The T-House is an enigmatic building for its reinterpretation of the conventional standards. In Tokyo, Japan this small house sits on the slope of a hill with a total space of 114, 47 sq.m. But let me guide you through this exquisite piece of art!

The house entrance is located at the street level, where two white walls break 90° to make the roof of the entrance staircase and swimming pool. Yes, it’s true! To enter this house, you must pass through a gap in the water that covers the entire entrance plan turning into a pool on the opposite facade. What a fine reception for both dwellers and visitors…

This Japanese project is not a tiny house this time, it’s actually an extremely unique apartment building. It has lots of open spaces, including open staircases, leading to four “huts”. The total floor area is 1,637 sq. ft., whereas the building area is 898.1 sq. ft.

This small cube home is a tree-loving private residence. Why tree-loving? Because it doesn’t want to interact with the street, it closes itself from the street; its simple geometric cube volumes on the lower levels are minimal, as if growing higher and higher, where finally opening up onto a large volume with a splendid window overlooking a blossoming cherry tree… Marvelous!!

This spectacular house is situated among a densely built-up detached and semi-detached houses in Hiroshima, Japan. The facade surfaces are covered with dark timber, giving it the look of a contemporary wooden hut… With one peculiarity: The first floor has been lifted above the ground floor and a void has been created as a result.

But just as the human body has its bones and muscles, the architectural body has its structure elements and vertical communication channels. These came to be seen anatomically after lifting one floor above the other. I can even see the white steel supports going even thinner and thinner in the process of pulling the part of the upper body. I can see the transparent glass skin appearing around the staircase after the transformation.

Do you believe in miracles? Let me introduce you to one in particular. In Fujisawa, Japan there´s a very small site where Japanese architects, ON design, definitely transformed less into more. ‘The house with empty lot’ is a private residence for a musician and a surfer couple, featuring only 62, 98 sq. m. of building area.

Situated on a tight space with barely no open facades, the volume is conceived as a hybrid living space with an individual ‘tiny house’ on each side. This spatial separation provides the privacy required for the coexistence of two different hobbies and lifestyles.

Sometimes restrictions lead to outstanding results! The Belly House, by Japanese architect Tomohiro Hata, brilliantly testifies to that. In Kyoto, Japan, there are several laws which restrict external volume, shape, materials and color. So actually when you think of it the exterior appearance of this house was already decided. A pre-defined ‘package’ works as a starting point to a marvelous architectural solution.

The House with Eaves and an Attic (yes, there is a house there, behind the huge roof) is situated on a small plot at the top of a hill in Tokyo. The aim was to create a spectacular appearance of a building and to utilize all the space you possibly can out of the dramatically small site on the edge of the slope.