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Architects: ULTRA STUDIO
- Area: 70 m²
- Year: 2022
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Photographs:Tomoyuki Kusunose
A room without an inhabitant. The term nLDK is widely used in the Japanese residential real estate market, where n stands for the number of bedrooms, L for the Living room, D for the Dining room and K for the Kitchen. For example, if a flat has two bedrooms, it would be described as a 2LDK. The description nLDK is very important for real estate market information, as people generally search for a room based on the number of n that is appropriate for their family size and income. For example, a couple with one child will often be looking for a floor plan with n≥2. The seller would then consider that at least 2LDK is necessary in an area where there are many families with children. This nLDK typology has emerged in the history of post-war housing supply, but its rigidity has been criticized in recent years.
Furthermore, there is a scheme known as "Purchase-Resale", in which buyers buy these standardized houses, add value by refurbishing them and resell them again. This project was also a request for refurbishment for this scheme. In this case, the design cannot be based on the individuality of the inhabitants. On the other hand, it also needs to "stand out" in the market by differentiating itself from other rooms, rather than simply meeting a general need. The number of visits on property search websites is also important, hence it is necessary to follow the nLDK zoning. This is because people search for a property by replacing the n in nLDK with a number. In other words, it was necessary to find a format that would create a different state from the general space while protecting the ordinary floor plan.
First, the windowless Japanese-style room was removed from the original three-bedroom layout, and the LDK was expanded into an oval shape. The entrance is widened, and the corridor is narrowed towards the LDK to create the illusion that the space is larger than it is. In the LDK, characters such as the white box-shaped kitchen, the wedge-shaped shelves that divide the space and the octagonal columns that hide the plumbing appear, giving identity to the space. Thus, a plan with visual intensity is created, as if a keystone has been pierced into the ellipse while keeping the format of 2LDK. The wedge-shaped shelf is an extended form of the corridor, and at the same time, it can be moved on castors. The inhabitants can move the shelves around to create their own appropriate elliptical divisions, responding to the contemporary use of the LDK, which has become a place for work, studio and other non-traditional activities.
This flat has a corridor, individual bedrooms and one LDK. What differentiates the generic layout is the interaction between the elliptical expanded space or the wedge-shaped corridor and the generic space. The entrance door opens into a space that is separated from the common areas of the building. The floor and walls are finished in red plywood, and doors on either side of the corridor open to reveal bright white private rooms; when entering the LDK, a mirror placed in the front reveals the entrance behind, while the elliptical wall guides the eye outwards. Paradoxically, the expanded interpretation of market principles = adherence to the nLDK format has created a new kind of nLDK.
