In this week's , readers are discussing a skinny house with exposed concrete walls in Japan, designed by local studio IGArchitects. Named 2700, the 2.7-metre-wide home was built on a long and thin site left over following a road expansion in the city. IGArchitects slots skinny 2700 house into narrow plot in Japan "Doing more with less is always commendable"  Several readers were impressed with how the design utilised the space available. "Doing more with less is always commendable," commented Jb. "Another example of how strict codes and limited space force an architect to create somethin ..read more

Walls of exposed concrete define this skinny house in Saitama, Japan, which local studio IGArchitects designed with a width of just 2.7 metres. Named 2700, the home is designed for a young couple on a long and thin site left over following a road expansion in the city, which is close to Tokyo. To maximise usable space, IGArchitects created a series of layered living spaces across two storeys, with flexible spaces on the ground floor and private spaces on the first floor. IGArchitects has created a skinny house in Japan "Land in Tokyo and surrounding cities is very expensive," IGArchitects fou ..read more

US studio Pelli Clarke & Partners has completed Japan's tallest skyscraper, the Mori JP Tower, as part of the Azabudai Hills development in Tokyo. At 330 metres high, the glass-clad Mori JP Tower is Tokyo's first supertall skyscraper and the tallest building in Japan, exceeding the 300-metre-tall Abeno Harukas in Osaka, also designed by Pelli Clarke & Partners. Mori JP Tower has a rounded silhouette Located in Tokyo's Minato ward, Mori JP Tower forms part of the Azabudai Hills development that Pelli Clarke & Partners masterplanned in collaboration with Japanese developer Mori ..read more

London studio Woo Architects will employ the principles of a circular economy for its design of the UK Pavilion at the Expo 2025 Osaka, which will have a reversible gridded structure. The UK Pavilion will be defined by a 10-by-10-metre structural grid, which can be easily deconstructed and moved to a different location following the event in Japan next year. It is being designed by Woo Architects alongside Japanese contractor ES Global, which has said the modular structure will also enable rapid construction. "The fully demountable and relocatable architecture solution achieves a high structu ..read more

Tokyo-based studio Klein Dytham Architecture has wrapped the Karuizawa Commongrounds Bookstore in Nagano with an undulating steel roof resembling "outstretched arms". Located at the foot of Mount Asama, the space was designed by Klein Dytham Architecture to be a community hub for the local residents. It sits at the centre of a larger complex comprised of five neighbouring buildings that include a delicatessen, restaurant and pre-school. Named Karuizawa Commongrounds Bookstore, the 495-square-metre bookstore is an extension of a two-storey building previously used as a seminar house by Tokyo's ..read more

Designed by architects including Tadao Ando and Kengo Kuma, the Tokyo Toilet project forms the backdrop for the Oscar-nominated film Perfect Days. Here, Dezeen rounds up all 17 facilities. The Tokyo Toilet project brings together 17 public toilets in the city's Shibuya district, created by architects and designers over the past six years. Commissioned by The Nippon Foundation as "a symbol of Japan's world-renowned hospitality culture", the unique facilities are now the subject of Perfect Days, an Oscar-nominated film by German filmmaker Wim Wenders that follows the daily life of a local janit ..read more

Japanese studio Akio Isshiki Architects has updated a house in Osaka by adding a multi-level void designed to maximise light and encourage play. Named House in Hattori-Tenjin, the 30-year-old dwelling is located on a dense residential street in the port city and previously had a dark, "standardised" interior. Working within a tight budget, Akio Isshiki Architects brightened and enlivened the home by preserving the majority of the existing building and introducing a void within its front portion. A 30-year-old house in Osaka has been renovated by Akio Isshiki Architects "The existing house had ..read more

The latest edition of our weekly Dezeen Agenda newsletter features Riken Yamamoto being named the 2024 Pritzker Architecture Prize winner. Subscribe to Dezeen Agenda now. Japanese architect Yamamoto has been announced as the latest winner of the Pritzker Architecture Prize. Yamamoto, the ninth recipient from Japan and the 53rd laureate of the annual Pritzker Architecture Prize, was awarded for his buildings that were said to provide a "background and foreground to everyday life". Samsung unveils Galaxy smart ring for health tracking This week's newsletter also featured Samsung's rev ..read more

Architecture studio NYAWA has restored and updated a traditional timber home in Toyama, Japan, to create a pared-back holiday home where visitors can "feel the passage of time". The home's Tokyo-based owner tasked the studio with creating a holiday rental that would "incorporate the local climate and culture", while also updating its structure to be earthquake resilient. Typical to many historical dwellings in the region, the building is organised around a large gathering space known as a hiroma, wrapped by sliding doors that allow it to be open to a covered porch or engawa. Shoji screens are ..read more

Japanese brand Karimoku Case has redesigned an apartment on a hilltop in Tokyo, using wood and a neutral colour palette to create a "calm and serene atmosphere". Named Azabu Hills Residence, the project was designed by Karimoku Case – a studio developed by Karimoku Furniture in collaboration with design studios Keiji Ashizawa and Norm Architects. The studio used the project as an opportunity to optimise the use of local zelkova wood which is increasingly underutilised. The apartment features furniture made from zelkova wood "We sympathized with the story of how zelkova used to be a commo ..read more