Japanese studio Sugawaradaisuke mixed powdered iron with plaster to give this Tokyo house a rusted exterior that will weather over time.

In order to maximize the small plot, the house expands living accommodation both internally and externally, converting the entire project into a group of spaces with different qualities. Inside the dwelling, private rooms are placed diagonally, interspersed with common zones that transform the rest of the site into ‘semi-indoor’ areas. Flexible volumes are arranged in a manner that supports modern lifestyles, offering the potential to contain a range of different programs. Externally, the structure’s weathered iron envelope changes over time, lending the house a permanent and fixed quality.

The house, the scheme responds to the nature of the urban landscape, presenting a new solution for sustainable residential architecture that is able to evolve over time.

"Exposed to the rain, wind, and sunlight, the weathering of the surface creates dappled rust, memorising the vernacular micro-climate over time...the architectural appearance is not designed by an architect, but is defined by the actual behaviour of the natural phenomena." — Daisuke Sugawara