This April, the Tower House was included in the list of protected historical building in Tokyo
This is a triangular construction
Which has been visited by many people
Some famous architects have visited the house when they were students
My name is Rie Azuma
I’ve been an architect for more than 30 years
There are 6 Hoshinoya hotels in Japan and abroad designed by me
My father is architect Takamitsu Azuma
The Tower House is the first piece of work of my father
He was a bit over 30 years old
The house was built in 1966
In the first few years, my father’s office was on the first floor of the building
He wanted to be able to walk to work
So living near his office became a reasonable choice
And he built the Tower House
The house was erected on a 20-square-meter plot of land
And the main area that can be used as rooms
Covers only 12 square meters
There are six levels, one underground and five above
The first floor is a garage
The second floor holds the living room, dining room and kitchen
My father would sit opposite to us
Mother and I would sit here
We’d move the chairs over and have meals here
Then put the chairs back
Into the living room
My mother used to cook here
She said that she could look outside while cooking here
The third floor is a void, a restroom and a bathroom
The fourth floor is the main bedroom
My parents slept here when we all lived here together
During weekend days there is light in the room
That’s very nice
I read in bed a lot
This is a picture of my father
He left us three years ago at the age of 84
I used to have words with him all the time when I was a student
And we rarely communicated
But after we started working together
I’d learned a lot from him
The fifth floor is a child room and a balcony
It used to be my room when we first moved in
I would sit at my desk
And study while staring at the sky
There is no door in the Tower House
But it doesn’t make life inconvenient
When my mother came up to hang clothes on the balcony
The sound of her going up the stairs
Would give me a notice
Or when I was studying
And there were guests, or my parents were watching TV downstairs
I would yell “Keep it down please” if they were too loud
And when dinner was ready, they would call me from downstairs too
All our memories about family is stored in the house
For me, the Tower House is part of our family
It’s like a family member
What makes the Tower House stand out
Is that despite its limited site area
It feels spacious
There are some openings on the south side
Through these windows, you can see different scenes in different directions
And as you go up the stairs, you will be showered in continuous new views
You won’t feel constrained at all
Although the house is right next to the streets
The walls sticking out
Is guarding the house
The avenue outside was completed the same time as the house
You can feel the seasons in the house
This also enriches the space
I moved in at 6
And everything you see in the house
Is the same as fifty years ago except the faucets
I hope that we can understand
That our perception of space does not equal to its actual physical size
As the sense of space is not directly convertible to numbers
So “how many square meters” shouldn’t be the sole consideration
Besides, building a house is not all about money
To build a good living space you need to put in thought
How to spend your money is an important question to answer
When you live in a house for 50 years
You would understand that there are things you can change, like furniture and home appliances
But there are also things you can’t change, like the basic structure of the house
If you have an interesting basic structure
You will have dozens of year of fun
My father once said that
When you live in a city, you won’t need every function in your house
Because the city could compensate for it
If you don’t have the space for a lot of books at home
You can go to the library nearby
If you have a small fridge
You can go to the grocery store everyday
You would have fresh ingredients all the time
Living in a city
Is living with changes and new experiences