Mugi kara Ie

This chic small house located in a densely built-up area of Osaka, Japan has an intriguing name. The name of the house, “Mugi kara Ie,” sounded like a house (Ie) grown from a grain of barley (Mugi), or a house made of barley when I first heard about it. The name had gotten stuck in my head, so when I learned the actual meaning of the name recently I felt some kind of relief.

Before the owners rebuilt the house, a part of the old house had been a coffee shop called “Mugi” once. The new “Ie (house)” is no longer a coffee shop but is furnished with a small music studio, patio and a roof deck. As in his design of House in Shiosaibashi, Koki Ogata managed to provide maximum spaciousness and functionality with minimum space.