This apartment renovation project is for a couple in their 50s. They love to read and
has a considerable collection of books. Their wish was to spend an active life with the
books in open space like a studio room.
Project Name: Drifting House
Studio Name: KOSAKU
Location: Tokyo, Japan
Year: 2020
Area: 98m2
Photographs: Nobutada OMOTE
This simple phrase from the client, “Books set me free” came up during a casual
conversation became a starting point for this project. As I recognized that for the client,
the reading experience is not only an accumulation of knowledge but also an expansion
of thinking and act of capturing and mapping the future. My question then was how to
connect the sense of freedom through reading and spacial experience by living. This
lead me to the idea of creating a space free from the weight of the books.
I came up with a plan to loosely divided the studio space by bookcases and
closets which are not connected to the ceiling nor the floor that serve gently as walls.
By having objects that floats int the air, they no longer function as separation of the
rooms but connects all as one fluid space.
In this house, light, wind, and sound flow gently through the ceiling and floor from
various directions, no matter where you are. The couple somehow feels each other’s
presence, and moves freely as if they were drifting in a zero-gravity space, spending
time with their books as they please.
The relationship between the book and the couple’s life will change with the passage of
time. I hope this house will continue to capture those variations and provide a space for
a comfort.
