The House in Sonda wraps itself around a little green courtyard, which has a cherry tree planted on it. The spaces around the courtyard are staggered and curved inwards, giving the house a distinct form. To an undiscerning eye, it looks almost like someone stacked blocks on top of each other. It is reminiscent of architecture students’ experiments with SketchUp where any form is possible as long as it’s new. But when confronted with an architecture so singular, one could ask; 'who was responsible: the client or designer? aspiration or function?' The residential design, by Japanese architectural practice Studio Cochi Architects is a seeming Frankenstein—with its blocky concrete form interjected with multiple openings looking out onto the landscape, a curving corridor with a gable roof, and even a semi-circular form jutting out of a cuboid—for want of a better word, but once you move inwards, definitely a tasteful Frankenstein.

The contemporary residence in Okinawa, designed for a family that includes four children, is located in a dense urban area. The neighbourhood is also surrounded by many fields and parks along with a large greenbelt extending to the east of the small site. According to the architects, the design is the result of the client’s love for architecture and particularly the residence of Tsutomu Abe, who was one of Japan’s celebrated modernist architects. The clients specifically requested that Studio Cochi Architects’ design reflect the ethos of Abe’s (or perhaps even the very form and aesthetic), and that they closely consider not only the building and layout but also its relationship with the surrounding environment.

It doesn’t happen often that architects meet clients with such a cultivated taste for architecture, let alone have very specific needs (right?). It’s not like clients demand specific colour or material palettes, or even suggest vague themes like tropical, or Scandinavian. At any rate, the clients’ interest in architecture was to a degree that they— presumably the entire family — sat in the meetings during the design process of the house, the architects shared. It can be quite frustrating to have such clients, go through the motions of designing and redesigning everything with every single meeting, which the writer feels is reflected in the bricolage-like form. However, even with such a confusing exposed concrete shell, the interiors manage to feel light and airy, most likely because of the large glazings that the house incorporates, and the minimalist concrete architecture.

Apart from the quintessential minimalist Japanese aesthetic in the interior design, there are a lot of comparisons that could be drawn to Abe’s residence. For instance, the house designed by the renowned modernist was built using mostly concrete and wood, a feature mirrored in the house here. Further, Abe has been quoted saying that he designed his house without any partitions. While this could also be attributed to traditional Japanese houses which have shoji partitions instead of solid walls, here too each room/space flows into the other, while still enjoying a sense of seclusion. After all, it can be tiresome to live in a house with four children. Cleverly, the designers ensured that the family members' private spaces were scattered throughout the house around the garden.

Designed to open out to the intimate little courtyard, the different spaces in the house are designed at different levels to create a sense of intrigue and privacy. As the architects mention, “In order to avoid monotony, the ceiling height and floor level are varied according to the character of each living space, and windows of various sizes are provided to allow the eye to pass through in various directions.” This is perhaps the best attribute in the design: the sheer number of openings, how they frame the natural landscape, and give a certain quality of lightness to the interiors.

Another of Abe’s design principles comes to mind regarding the House in Sonda. Abe believed that people feel good in spaces where they can see out but can’t be seen themselves. In that way, something is alluring about the residence, its intimate courtyard design, and the seats that look out onto it. In an interview about his house, Abe was quoted as saying, “It’s important for clients to feel that they are making the house. They need to decide what they want and it’s the architect’s job to help them…I feel the key relationship is between the house and the people who live in it.”

It’s a fine balancing act. Certainly, the design by Studio Cochi Architects reflects this sentiment when they write in the press release, “We hope that the open living space with a garden in the centre will grow into the owner's ideal residence in an enclosed residential area.” And surely, a house whose mood will change with every season, on top of the various playful spaces that it includes, will continue to provide some form of joy to the people who live in it.