K House, 2005

K House is one of the few houses designed by architect Mikiko Endo. The interior is accentuated with exposed concrete and plywood surfaces.

I have noticed that each work by Endo (e.g., Ko No Mo To and Hakone Art Loop) has a strong sense of mass even when sheet materials are dominant in the work. By using slabs of concrete along with wood, this becomes most evident in her design of K House.

Despite its boxy shapes, the details have a subtle femininity that gives the house a voluptuous presence. This small house looks ‘stronger’ than most of the buildings designed by Kengo Kuma, and looks ‘sexier’ than the new Tiffany Ginza. (Sorry, senpai!)

^Who: office mikiko
^What: Single family residence
^Where: Kyoto
^When: 2005 (completion)
^How: Two-story reinforced concrete & wood frame construction
^{Site Area:} 4300 square feet (400m²)
^{Construction Area:} 860 square feet (80m²)
^{Total Floor Area:} 1290 square feet (120m²)
^{Photographer:} Mineo Sakata