A room is a decision about how you want to be tired at the end of the day.

I live in forty-eight square metres in Tokyo with one good chair and far too many bowls, so I have had to mean that. I trained as an architect and left to write, which my teachers took badly. Uchi (内) means inside, and it means home: the room you come back to. The palette comes after the tiredness. So does the name on the lamp.

This is where I keep what the world's rooms are doing. Around seventy sources, read in Japanese, Korean, Chinese, Vietnamese, Italian, French and English: an apartment in Seoul, a house outside Taipei, a Copenhagen showroom seen from here rather than from Denmark. East first, because east is where I am sitting.

Each story is a headline, an excerpt of a few lines, one photograph and a link to whoever did the work. We never reprint the piece, and the photograph belongs to the person who took it. When a room was written up in Korean or Italian it stays in Korean or Italian here; the link takes you to the writer's own words.

I am not trying to be complete. I am trying to notice.

— Mio Tachibana, Tokyo

← Uchi Archive

Livingetc

Japanese Tsuboniwa Are Tiny Courtyards that Bring Light and Air Into the Middle of a House — And They're Small Home Friendly

September 19

I've been dreaming of courtyards all summer. It's a common architectural element in many traditional Asian homes, but it takes on a different style depending on where it lands on the map.

Small spaces Indoor green Japan-inspired

Read at Livingetc ↗

One letter a week, in your inbox.

Latest

Japanese Tsuboniwa Are Tiny Courtyards that Bring Light and Air Into the Middle of a House — And They're Small Home Friendly

Related

Retreat House Leibal

5 Favorites: Clever Kitchen Tools from Eatco of Japan Remodelista

VietnamNgôi nhà nhỏ lơ lửng bên triền nho ELLE Decoration Vietnam

TaiwanIKEA 打造一系列迷你小宅！攜手瑞典藝術家創作 1:12 微縮模型，家具、擺設、生活痕跡全還原 Shopping Design

Taiwan日本首座 Park Hyatt 別墅在北海道！隈研吾操刀建築，13 棟建築坐擁羊蹄山景 Shopping Design

Thailandบ้านตามงบ จบไม่บานปลาย Small House Small Budget | บ้านและสวนทีวี EP. 135 Baan Lae Suan