ULTRA Studio Reframes Domestic Perception in Tokyo

Japanese architecture practice ULTRA Studio has examined how inhabitants perceive their living environments through two distinct projects located in Tokyo: After Image and Apartment in Uehara. Both works explore how daily habits cause residents to overlook familiar architectural elements and how spatial design can alter these perceptions.

Completed in 2023, After Image occupies an 81.98-square-meter site within a typical Tokyo residential neighborhood for a young couple and their child. Positioned between a busy street and a narrow alley where neighbors maintain small gardens, the building reverses conventional orientation by concealing the interior from the quiet street and turning the intimate alley side into its primary facade.

Stock photo for illustration only, not from the actual event

At the center of the residence stands a large, opaque black cylinder designed to be impossible to ignore initially. ULTRA Studio compares this element to the nose, which remains in our field of vision while the brain learns to look past it. The cylinder anchors the ground floor, which rises to a height of approximately four meters, while dividing the overall floor plan.

Additional features further complicate visual interactions within After Image, such as a silver cylinder above the alley window that conceals pipework while reflecting daylight, and a mirror attached to a blue column that connects the kitchen view with the living room.