One of the reason that brought me to Japan was the desire to confront myself with a different idea of space. After a few months my initial idea has been confirmed daily. It is becoming even more extreme reaching the point where I start to believe that talking about architecture/space in Jpan and Europe in many cases make no sense because we are talking about different things.
Now, Introducing the work of Niizeki Studio I would like to show one of the first element of diversity: the threshold between inside and outside. Most of the time there is no evidence of th inner function of the building. This is one of the most confusing element when coming to Japan: not being able , visually, to recognize a bicycle shop and a soba restaurant. After a while one learns slowly the different language.
(the two picture above are houses).
Another example. A soba (japanese noodle) bar entrance:
