#HTE

Yea or Nay: Would You Want to Live in a House with No Conventional Storeys, But 16 Micro-Levels?

Dezeen has been following the work of Japanese architect Yo Shimada, and his penchant for multi-level interior construction, for quite some time. Shimada’s Kobe-based firm, Tato Architects, made a splash in 2013 with their House in Itami, which features an interior composed of multiple differing-height platforms, often using furniture to double as stairs between levels, like this:

Their subsequent House in Miyamoto took the concept even further, essentially going open-plan:

Most recently, Tato Architects designed this House in Takatsuki, which is a three-storey building that contains 16 levels.

Again, furniture does double duty as stairs, like with this countertop/floor:

Shimada describes the design as “a simple yet complex, geographical and cave-like labyrinth captured inside a small house.” What I’m wondering is, what would it feel to live in a house like this? I imagine that even after the novelty wears off, moving around the house might require an above-average level of engagement.

In my own (normal) house my body is on autopilot when I go up or down the stairs, whereas I imagine that here I’d be more inclined to watch my step. I’m also wondering what the space’s tolerance for clutter is, if any; and from a maintenance standpoint, I would dread having to lug a vacuum between each level.

That being said, I can almost guarantee cats would love it.

“Rather than using walls and different floor levels to clearly divide the space into various functions, everything loosely connects and disconnects from each other through stepped floors,” Shimada says.

What say you? Do you think Shimada’s approach would appeal to you, long-term, as a living space? Or are you hard-wired to live in conventional storeys?