House in Kanazawa
Kanazawa, Japan
A house in Kanazawa, on Japan's rainy Hokuriku coast, finished in September 2019. The traditional entrance room of the region, an earth floored space where guests were received, is rethought here as an indoor garden under one very large roof. The idea is living openly indoors through bad weather and cold winters, with direct sunlight tuned by season to keep the house cool in summer and warm in winter.
The roof of ribbed silver steel sweeps from a tall apex at the back down to head height at the street, where it meets a row of slender timber posts, with walls of solid cedar behind them. The big glass fittings are adjusted so wind, rain and thunder sound further away than they look, and the client asked for a house that makes you want to go home. Designed by Shota Nakanishi with Hirofumi Ohno as structural engineer, it was highly commended at the Architectural Review's AR House Awards in 2021.
Shota Nakanishi Architects
The practice of architect Shota Nakanishi in Hakusan, just south of Kanazawa, working across houses, shops, cultural buildings, landscapes and interiors. He studied at Chiba University and teaches as a guest critic at schools across the Hokuriku region.
Architecture @shotanakanishiarchitects and Hirofumi Ohno. Photography @shinkenchikusha. Seen via @dereave_architecture.
The picture comes from this post on Instagram.
Researched August 2026. I credit each piece as carefully as I can; if you know more about this one, message me on Instagram.