Kazuyo Sejima presents compact Tokyo homes that "show how cities and buildings grow together"
Architecture studio SANAA's co-founder Kazuyo Sejima is opening three iconic homes to the public with the Tokyo House Tour, which showcases striking post-war buildings.
The tour, which will take place during this year's Art Week Tokyo (AWT), aims to help people discover the city's rich history of houses built in the city after the second world war.
"Tokyo is home to many valuable small houses built after the war for ordinary people," Sejima, who organised the tour, told Dezeen.
"In hopes of preserving these houses as part of the city's cultural heritage, the idea was brought to AWT last year and grew into this project."
Tokyo House Tour features the six-storey Tower House by architect Takamitsu Azuma, a concrete 1960s building with a striking geometric design built to fit a slim plot.
The central Tokyo home is concrete both inside and out and features a built-in concrete staircase around which the rooms are arranged, contrasted with warm wooden details.
The tour also takes visitors to the more suburban Hanakoganei and Koganei area, where Sejima said "nature still remains".
Here, she is focusing on two houses designed by architect Toyo Ito, one of which is his playful Hanakoganei House that features one arched and one gabled roof and turquoise details.
The houses on the tour are still occupied.
"With the generous cooperation of the owners, a house designed by Takamitsu Azuma in 1966 and two houses designed by Toyo Ito in 1979 and 1983 were made accessible for this tour," Sejima said.
"I hope to show how cities and buildings grow together to form culture."
Sejima's aim is also for the tour, which will take place over two days during Art Week Tokyo, to help preserve the buildings on it.
While this smaller building typology was once common in the city, where people had to build upwards and often on unusual and oddly-shaped sites, today many of the older ones are at risk of being lost.
"In Japan, for various reasons including the ageing population, it's becoming harder for individuals to maintain their own buildings," Sejima explained.
"This makes the preservation and passing on of such houses a real challenge," she continued.
"By giving these small houses new uses, we hope they can be preserved as part of Tokyo's and Japan's heritage, and protected together by everyone."
She hopes the tour will help people appreciate the way in which the homes blend practical solutions with sculptural, creative designs that make them stand out in the cityscape.
"I hope architects, including visitors of all kinds, can feel that these houses and the Tokyo streets around them are both practical and artistic in their own way," Sejima concluded.
Other intriguing Tokyo houses on Dezeen include a home with a concrete shell that incorporates its furniture and a home sheltered from the street by wooden louvres.
Tokyo House Tour is taking place from 7 to 8 November during Art Week Tokyo in Tokyo. See Dezeen Events Guide for an up-to-date list of architecture and design events taking place around the world.
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