Passage of Landscape House soaks up light, winds and sounds of Japanese rice fields

This beautiful house in Toyota, Japan, designed by studio ihrmk, is dominated by passages that connect it to the scenery of the adjacent terraced paddy field.

Conveniently entitled “Passage of Landscape,” the house allows its inhabitants to feel connected to nature and take in all the beauty of the surrounding greenery, which includes rice fields, lemon trees and Magnolias.

Three gate-shaped frames make up the structure of the house, whose configuration is dominated by two passages: one running from south to north on the first floor, and the other from east to west on the second floor. These transform the house into a breezy environment in which nature permeates every inch of the living space.

The ground floor houses the living area, which extends into the landscape via a large wooden deck and garden. A reading zone and dining room on the second floor establish a connection with this space through a gap in the south side frame. These gaps continue to play an important part in framing and separating spaces on the second floor, where they become high side windows for ventilation and lighting. The clients requested lots of storage space to fulfill their daily needs and the architects responded accordingly—various niches and nooks have been utilized to form different types of closets.