Solitary and graceful on its patch of land facing the Japanese sea, outside of Ise, this small and metaphysical home was designed by EASTERN Architecture Studio for a client approaching the end of his days.

Something small, facing sunrise, and to last for 15 years, was what the client wanted, an architecture that could surprise the ever-change of waves.

The residence was raised upon concrete core to afford views of the sea. The lower levels house kitchen, bathroom and functional spaces while the subtly cantilevered upper floor is the living, or will be the ‘dying room’.

There is indeed something funereally austere and monumental in the symmetric shape, the dark rough materials, but the sunrise streams in like a wistful sea-salty smile through the crooked windows. Sensitive and symbolic, is is not a house to live in, but a house for tranquility and faithful friends.