Hasta La Ideas

All photos by Kojima Junji

Seeing as Tokyo’s Level Architects are perhaps best known for a residential project in the city’s Nakameguro district, aka the “Slide House,” it’s perhaps no surprise that they’re behind the so-called “Skatepark House.” The nickname of the 2011 project is only slightly misleading, as it’s definitely more of a house than a skatepark… and quite an enviable living space at that.

A young (and apparently well-to-do) married couple charged Level Architects with an interior that included both a skatepark and a piano rehearsal room, reflecting their individual interests. Since they didn’t need a garage, the ground-level space was fitted with sliding glass panels that enclose a workshop and studio, which has a skatepark-style bowl embedded in the floor at varying grades “for plenty of different interaction.”

The piano room, located at the back of the studio, is raised about two feet from the ground to help with the sound-proofing of the room as well as creating an inherent stage performance space. When the doors open up onto the studio, the expanded space with the bowl transform into guest seating and completely changes the atmosphere from a mere practice room to a public concert hall.

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