Case Study on Japan and Singapore

Japan and Singapore are similar in the way that both are modern, vibrant cities in Asia and aging society. Both also have a population generally lacking spatial awareness. In Singapore, it was hard to find smaller studios compared to Japan until recently. If you have a budge under $2000/mth, you would have to rent a common room and share the living spaces together with others. Landlords living in HDBs are also not allowed to rent out their rooms to foreigners as it is illegal to do so. Apartments in Japan are also designed more ergonomically, so that the limited space that they have are used efficiently. However, those building principles do not apply here in Singapore. Over here, I think that the balcony in most of the houses might be of a waste of space because not many people would make full use of it. For example, hardly anyone would  setup a study or a bedroom on their balcony.

The houses in Japan are presumed to have a rather short lifespan. They are generally torn down and rebuilt after a few decades. Some modern houses in Japan are designed in a way where they only make use of incredibly small or narrow spaces. For example, the Nada House, it is built upwards on a space that is barely 36sm. Its rooms are wrapped around a center shaft of light to pour in through. This house’s ground floor is almost the size of a storage room and space for a single car. The kitchen, dining and living rooms are on the second floor while the bedrooms are on the third. Most of the light come in through the roof as there are only 2 windows at the front and rear of the property.

sunlight coming in from the roof

view from the top floor

Another example is the Hori no Uchi house in Tokyo. This house only takes up 27.9sm from a 55sm plot of land. This building is sandwiched between the road and a river embankment, and might otherwise have eventually become little more than a parking space. The ground floor is the sleeping area while the second floor is a completely open-plan and allows for plenty of light to enter the living space. It also has a small loft space on the top floor.

outdoor view

overview of the house