Iwan Baan
  • Photography
  • Books
  • Exhibitions
  • News
  • About
  • Contact
  • Facebook
  • Instagram

Sky House, Tokyo – Kikutake

2014

Japanese architect Kiyonori Kikutake’s Sky House (1958) remains an exemplary project that defines the Metabolist agenda but, more significantly, underscores the notion that a single-family dwelling can be ideologically recursive and strategic. Kikutake, however, was not without a somewhat unlikely precedent in the renowned Le Corbusier.

Both architects established an order and method of working via their smallest designs – Kikutake in Sky House and Le Corbusier at Villa Savoye (1929) – and developed their notions through written accounts (Kikutake’s Metabolist Manifesto, 1960 and Le Corbusier’s Purist Manifesto, predating the built work, in 1918). Finally, each scales up their ideas to the level of the urban through Kikutake’s Tower-Shaped Community Project (1959) and Le Corbusier’s Urbanisme at Chandigarh, India (1953). To locate the origin of the influence, it is necessary to first examine Le Corbusier’s position as the figurehead of Congrès International d’Architecture Moderne (CIAM).

Sky House – Tokyo
By Kikutake Architects

Published in Abitare 500 – March 2010 – The House that used to fly

Favorite
Favorite
Favorite
Favorite
Favorite
Favorite
Favorite
Favorite
Favorite
Favorite

Tags:

  • Japan,
  • Kikutake Architects,
  • Residential,
  • and Tokyo

Other projects tagged with Japan, Kikutake Architects, Residential and Tokyo

House H, Tokyo – Sou Fujimoto

House H, Tokyo – Sou Fujimoto

Seijo Apartments, Tokyo – Kazuyo Sejima

Seijo Apartments, Tokyo – Kazuyo Sejima

Next Generation House, Kumamura Japan – Sou Fujimoto

Next Generation House, Kumamura Japan – Sou Fujimoto

Fogo Island Arts Corporation, Fogo Island Canada – Todd Saunders

Fogo Island Arts Corporation, Fogo Island Canada – Todd Saunders

House OM, Yokohama Japan – Sou Fujimoto

House OM, Yokohama Japan – Sou Fujimoto

Benesse House Museum, Naoshima – Tadao Ando

Benesse House Museum, Naoshima – Tadao Ando

Amber Denim Loom Shed – Craft village Gazipur

Amber Denim Loom Shed – Craft village Gazipur

Naoshima Ferry Terminal, Naoshima Japan – SANAA

Naoshima Ferry Terminal, Naoshima Japan – SANAA

House NA, Tokyo Japan -Sou Fujimoto

House NA, Tokyo Japan -Sou Fujimoto

Many Small Cubes Tuileries, Paris – Sou Fujimoto

Many Small Cubes Tuileries, Paris – Sou Fujimoto

Prada Store, Tokyo – Herzog de Meuron

Prada Store, Tokyo – Herzog de Meuron

Exhibition: Haus Stettfurt, Thurgau Switzerland – Richard Neutra

Exhibition: Haus Stettfurt, Thurgau Switzerland – Richard Neutra

  • Home
  • Portfolio
  • Sky House, Tokyo – Kikutake

Iwan Baan Photography, Rozenstraat 145, 1016 NP Amsterdam, The Netherlands, e-mail: studio@iwan.com — all images © Iwan Baan 1996 - 2025