The Completely Transparent House With No Privacy

When I first saw the pictures of this transparent house in Tokyo, I thought no way would I be able to live there. I don’t have any curtains or blinds on the windows along the front of my house. I know that when people walk by on the sidewalk at night they can see inside if I have the lights on, but at least the entire interior of the house is not exposed. The more I look at this though; I might be able to do it. I’m sure having this much sunlight shining inside all day must be inspiring. Plus, the fact that everybody can see inside is definitely motivation to keep things cleaned up around the house, don’t you think? We often talk about online transparency, and I could see how it might be fun for some people to carry that over into their offline lives.

There is much more to this house than just the fact that it is transparent though. It mostly a vertical space, and there are almost no walls inside. Instead, it has three levels and 21 little platforms for “perching,” almost as if you were sitting in a tree. Everything about this house is definitely designed for people watching, or at least it seems that way to me. Instead of thinking about people looking inside, perhaps the designers at Sou Fujimoto Architects were more concerned about making it cozy for the people inside the house to look out at people. Sometimes if something doesn’t make sense, if you invert it in your mind, it suddenly seems logical.

There are some interior curtains that were added on the inside to partition off some of the platforms at night if some people want privacy while sleeping. But the way I look at it, if everyone outside can see you sleeping, who cares about privacy when it comes to the other people inside the house? This is a brain twister for sure. This house was specifically built for a young couple in Tokyo who have no children. People online are comparing it to an adult treehouse. It doesn’t really seem like a treehouse to me. Now… THIS is an adult treehouse. So, after looking at these pictures, would you be able to live in this house?

Via: [My Modern Met] [Twisted Sifter] Image Credit: [Iwan Baan]