Jun Aoki

Part good neighbour and part recluse, N is a house with a split personality. The latest from Tokyo architect Jun Aoki, this two-story block adorned with a pitched roof, brick chimney and mullioned windows greets the street amiably. But the heart of the house is a cavernous, underground box completely sequestered from view. While the iconographic upstairs contains just bedrooms, the buried inner sanctum downstairs holds the combined kitchen, dining and living room.