GRAPHĒ: A Family’s Home in Kyoto Balances Light and Darkness With a Diagonal Wall

The insertion of a two-level, canted partition in a 40-year-old home gives a young family in Japan a multitude of unique spaces.

In Kyoto, Japan, architect Tada Masaharu and Endo Shojiro Design performed a renovation of a vertical home that’s marked by a central diagonal wall. For the young family, a couple with an infant daughter, the wall’s position dictates daily routines: On one side are sunlit public areas where the family can gather or host meals; on the other are darker and cozier private spaces where they sleep and work.

On each level of the house, Masaharu used the distance between the floor and the diagonal wall to temper natural light. "These gaps connect the spaces, creating [a home] where brightness and darkness exude," he says. "[The clients] experience a rich space by moving up and down, like a spiral. It’s a house where you can enjoy a collection of many small spaces."