# Tokyo Jewel

By [Brandon Donnelly](https://paragraph.com/@brandondonnelly), 2020-02-06

architecture, dezeen, housing, john-pawson, masao-nishikawa, minimal-design, minimalism, small-house, urbanism

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![](https://storage.googleapis.com/papyrus_images/72bd930beef5d27924835764881b14b4.jpg)

I have a fascination with "small" Japanese homes. Many, or perhaps most of them, would be illegal to build in a place like Toronto. [This one here](https://www.dezeen.com/2020/02/05/jewel-apollo-architects-associates-architecture-japanese-houses/) in Tokyo, called Jewel, is only 1.4m wide on its narrowest elevation. See above photo. Designed by Apollo Architects & Associates, the ~80m2 home was built on a "flagpole" site. Narrow approach. More site area in the back. Here is a plan of the ground floor (via [Dezeen](https://www.dezeen.com/2020/02/05/jewel-apollo-architects-associates-architecture-japanese-houses/)) to give you a better sense of what I'm talking about:

![](https://storage.googleapis.com/papyrus_images/866361d73e14a7d5d113037086c60de8.jpg)

According to Dezeen, the client is a fan of minimal design and, in particular, the work of [John Pawson](https://brandondonnelly.com/2019/09/21/nothingness-as-art/). His work was a source of inspiration for the project. But if you read the article closely, you may notice that he is referred to as the "British _architectural designer_ Pawson." I learned last week, following [this post](https://brandondonnelly.com/2020/01/30/i-am-not-an-architect/), that John Pawson is not a licensed architect. Hence the carefully chosen language. I guess there's hope for those of us who are _not_ architects.

_Photo:_ [_Masao Nishikawa_](http://www.masaonishikawa.com/)

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*Originally published on [Brandon Donnelly](https://paragraph.com/@brandondonnelly/tokyo-jewel)*