Yo No Ie by Muji UP108
Muji has launched a single-storey prefabricated home called Yō no Ie that has a large outdoor deck to encourage indoor-outdoor living.Yō no Ie, or Plain House, is intended for use in rural settings and is the first stair-free dwelling in Muji's line of prefabricated timber homes that launched in 2004.
The 74-square-metre structure responds to a growing demand for low-profile homes in suburban Japan, and the retail company hopes it will provide "a wide range of generations" with more choices of places to live.
Yō no Ie is a compact single-storey home without columns or fixed divisions. It was designed by Muji for flexibility and will allow owners to reconfigure its layout to meet changing needs.
True to the brand's minimalist aesthetic, it has a pared-back interior finish composed of pale wood floors and white walls.
Three full-height doors line one side of the house, opening up to the outdoor decking that features a sunken segment for use as a fire pit or garden.
This decking area is intended to form a seamless extension of the house's interior so that the division between them has been made as flush as possible. Muji hopes this will encourage inside-outside living as owner's can easily move their furniture out to create an external living space.
www.muji.com
