{"id":8534,"date":"2026-05-18T10:30:45","date_gmt":"2026-05-18T10:30:45","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.angesfinanciers.org\/?p=8534"},"modified":"2026-05-22T15:21:17","modified_gmt":"2026-05-22T15:21:17","slug":"kumaelsa-arranges-japanese-apartments-around-translucent-huts","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.angesfinanciers.org\/index.php\/2026\/05\/18\/kumaelsa-arranges-japanese-apartments-around-translucent-huts\/","title":{"rendered":"Kuma&Elsa arranges Japanese apartments around translucent “huts”"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Nakano<\/div>\n

Architecture studio Kuma&Elsa has renovated<\/a> the top two floors of an apartment<\/a> block in Japan<\/a>, creating enclosures that aim to re-create the spatial conditions of a traditional Japanese engawa<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

Located in Japan’s Fukuoka prefecture, Nakano House was completed for a client who wanted to re-create the feeling of her traditional childhood home 15-metres above ground on the top two floors of a concrete apartment block.<\/p>\n

\"Interior
Kuma&Elsa renovated the top two floors of an apartment block in Japan<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

To achieve this, Kuma&Elsa<\/a> inserted a central hut on each floor, creating a space around its perimeter that opens onto balconies. This house-in-a-house approach replicated the feel of a traditional Japanese veranda space known as an engawa.<\/p>\n

“The project involves the design of two apartments: one for the client on the sixth floor and one for the family of one of her sons on the seventh floor,” founders Shohei Kuma and Elsa Escobedo told Dezeen.<\/p>\n

\"Home
Central “huts” were inserted on each floor<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

“In both cases, we introduced a ‘hut’ at the centre of each floor,” they continued. ‘Around these volumes, we defined an engawa as a residual \u2013 negative \u2013 space.”<\/p>\n

“However, the boundaries of the huts are not fixed; they can extend and connect different areas, forming a continuous living environment across each floor,” they added.<\/p>\n

\"Living
They were constructed using simple steel frames<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The hut in the centre of each floor was constructed using a simple steel frame, which was fixed to the apartment block’s concrete floor plates and braced to the ceiling with steel cables.<\/p>\n

Translucent, sliding screens of plastic framed in timber allow the bedrooms and living spaces inside to be opened-up to the surrounding area, where the bathrooms, kitchen and dining spaces are located.<\/p>\n

The wooden flooring of the hut interiors extends out to form a perimeter mimicking a traditional timber engawa, with a zigzagging edge where it meets the surrounding concrete floor.<\/p>\n