In many ways the contingency of the greenery adds to the fragile nature of the whole construction. The hard concrete is a familiar sight within the fabric of the city, and in parts so are balconies crammed with plants and flowers; but here we have a poetic essay that collides these two worlds into a conceit that is fantastical and yet very domestic.
This provocative project also interrogates the notion of domestic space and how we live. Is it having the detached address that is the luxury, or is it the vertically stacked self-contained world that is bespoke, eccentric and very personal? There are issues of privacy with bedrooms open to the stair, questions of seasonal occupation − after all it still gets cold in Tokyo (down to 2°C in January) − where the use of the outside spaces must be limited. It is disappointing to see that the internal climate control is through standard air-conditioning cassette units mounted to the wall with the requisite chiller on the roof. It would have been wonderful to think that somehow the vegetation had a positive effect on the microclimate of the home − perhaps it does? Less of a machine to live in and more of a living appliance; a propagator for plants and people.