Jutaku or kyosho jutaku (Japanese: 狭小住宅) is a Japanese architectural style focused on delivering original, "micro-home" designs on very small sites.Claire Voon, Why Japan's Futuristic Micro-Homes Are So Popular, Hyperallergic.com, 4 January 2016
History The Jutaku phenomenon rose in the 1990s as Japan's real estate sites grew increasingly smaller, both from the Japanese inheritance system and the archipelago's growing population.Edwin Heathcote, How Japan's 'jutaku' houses squeeze creativity into small spaces, Ft.com, 5 February 2016 According to the architect Kengo Kuma, the first traces of Jutaku appear in the writings of the poet Kamo no Chōmei and the description of his own small house.Kelsey Campbell-Dollaghan, 10 Japanese Kyosho Jutaku (Micro Homes) That Redefine Living Small, Gizmodo.com, 15 May 2013
The development of smaller, capsule homes was influenced also by Japan's capsule hotel trend, launched in 1974 with the Nakagin Capsule Tower.Kyosho jutaku: Living large in small spaces, Tokyoreporter.com, 29 March 2008
Description Jutaku simply means "house" in Japanese.Naomi Pollock, Jutaku: a slideshow, Japonica.info, 8 December 2015 Such residences and buildings focus on minimalist, multi-functional spaces to compensate for their small sites. They often do not blend with their urban context, making the architectural style well-suited for individualist-oriented cultures. Additionally, Jutaku structures often feature contorted geometries, advanced structural engineering, or unconventional site configurations.
According to the Japanese architect Yasuhiro Yamashita, a Jutaku house is awkward, built towards the sky, nature-sensitive, personalized, monochrome, built with reflective materials and hidden storage areas.Tight squeeze: The secrets behind Japan's coolest micro homes, Cnn.com, 5 February 2017
Examples 4x4 house in Tarumi-ku, Kobe, designed by Ando TadaoMiki Tanikawa, Odd Building Sites Force Architects Into Flights of Fancy, Nytimes.com, 14 October 2010 Layer House, designed by Hiroaki Ohtani Lucky Drops, in Tokyo, designed by Yasuhiro Yamashita
Further reading Naomi Pollock (2015), Jutaku: Japanese Houses. Phaidon Press.
See also List of architectural styles Japanese architecture
References