I have to say I quite like the openness and blockiness of Kazujuki Okamura‘s Ishizuchi House — there are more photos here, where you can better see that various parts of the home. Via MoCo Loco.

Minkus Architects Tokyo have renovated an apartment in Tokyo, with the main feature being the use of curtains throughout the space, doubling (or replacing) walls. Dezeen posts more on the project.

Excite Japan has a piece up (in Japanese) that covers a new office/apartment building called The Soho, designed by the king of Tokyo retail space design, Masamichi Katayama (Wonderwall) — the article is photo-heavy. Via Dezain.net.

TABlog posts a nice photo report from the opening of Kengo Kuma’s “Studies in Organic” exhibition at Gallery MA. The show runs until December 19.

For next month’s Design Miami, Atelier Bow-Wow is designing the exhibition space — in the form of a house — for Dutch design brand Droog. Via Dezeen.

This could have been a very interesting cafe project, if completed.

In 2008 Japanese architect Hiroki Tanabe developed a small café house of 62 sqm — a two-story complex which has an elongated U shape. On the first floor there is a kitchen and the café doubling as living room. The second floor houses a bedroom and bathroom.

See a gallery of photos over at Designboom.

Science, metaphysicism, and architecture meet in Atelier Norisada Maeda‘s “I Remember You” home. More at Spoon & Tamago.

Even more than today’s HG House — yes, I know it’s confusing — I really dig Sou Fujimoto’s House H, especially the interior — it has an M.C. Escher meets Muji feel to it. Photographer Iwan Baan has a gallery of 40+ photos from the house. Via Designboom.

Is it just me or does pretty much every architectural project that appears on Designboom and Dezeen — especially homes — come from Japan? Here’s another one, this time the HG House by Atelier Tekuto, which fulfills the client’s request of “living in the garage.”

Great newsbit of the day: SANAA‘s Kazuyo Sejima has been announced as the director of next year’s Venice Architecture Biennale. She is the first woman to occupy the post.

I love all the open areas in Takeshi Hosaka Architects‘ Insidehouse & Outsidehouse — Designboom posts photos of the interior.

It may just be a proposal, but Suppose Design Office‘s “Urban Airgap” design for a competition in Greece looks pretty damn amazing. It would be to revitalize a rundown area of Athens.

In their research, Suppose Design Office noted that the existing building designs in the Kerameikos-Metaxourgeio area did not allow for a window opening into the adjacent property.

“Urban Airgap” aimed to create as many openings — airgaps — on each site. This was achieved by building central core towers, containing a stairwell, to which the residential units are cantilevered from the cores and which form a sandwich that encloses the main social communal zone.

There’s much more to see in this Designboom post.

Although it’s great that Dezeen has decided to cover KDa‘s Gallery MA show by posting a collection of photos, they really do need to get their facts straight — the exhibition is not “on show,” it was held earlier this year from April to June.

Built back in 2006, I’m liking the tower-like Rokushomaki House, designed by Masuda Atelier and located up in Saitama. Via MoCo Loco.

If you have the chance, come celebrate Mark Dytham and Astrid Klein‘s 20 years in Japan at SuperDeluxe tonight (November 1, 18:00-22:00, free entrance). For this one night, the 20 Crystal Collection — models of their works encased in crystals — that was first shown earlier this year during their Gallery MA show will be on display.