I'm home (NEWS / ENGLISH)

The growing housing complex market is greatly changing in Japan. In the first half of 2007, land prices in the central city rose, and in Tokyo and Kanagawa prefectures, allotment sale unit prices rose by 11.4% compared to the previous year. If limited to the prime area, i.e; the 23 wards in Tokyo, land price unit of 1m2 was approximately 1.10 million, which converts to a 26.9% increase. Because buyers cannot accommodate skyrocketing land prices, home sales decreased. On top of that, many were confused by the implementation of the new building standards law, which in turn caused the supply of new apartment units to decrease. Some developers with too much stock started to postpone some projects.
Under these circumstances, strategies of apartment businesses began to show signs of polarization. Major developers started structuring and planning in the prime areas such as the center of the city or areas near the train station, and began to sell highly priced apartment units fully equipped with utility services, nice interiors, and facilities. On the contrary, middle-, small-sized, or newcomer developers supply reasonably priced apartment units located in the suburbs. Among these, floor heights are compressed and floor-area ratio is ensured to the maximum legal regulations. These apartment buildings are the so-called "crammed type" and the buyers need good eyes to assess the balance between the price and the quality. Because an issue of disguised earthquake resistance was exposed in 2005, apartment buyers also have a tendency to place importance on "security/reassurance" in addition to "location", "space (layout)", and "price". However, it seems like users put too much importance on living "safely" rather than living "comfortably". Also, a lot of people select apartment buildings for a passive reason like "maintenance is easy".
It is essential to coordinate individual residences with your own style and sometimes visit each other's apartments. These kinds of efforts ultimately lead to having a long-term perspective in community maintenance and apartment management. That means having somewhat of a connection with the local community, and not just caring about the building frame quality.

The word "den" is used to describe a room with a bookshelf filled with books and a desk for reading and writing. However, for the last several years, the layout plans where the den is consolidated with a living/dining room or a bedroom are becoming more common. Also, open-style dens like establishing a semi-private space somewhere in the hallway or in the passage hole and having a PC space exposed to the vaulted ceiling, are becoming popular. This current phenomenon stems from the fact that the purpose of having a den is not only for reading books and writing things, but also for using a PC and indulging oneself in music and hobbies as well as doing business. The den's purpose is now diversified and the mentality about having a private space in the residence is changing.
The mainstream for the last several years is an open-style den without any partitions, similar to the open-style kitchen trend. Because of the living situations in modern Japanese cities, it is not easy to secure enough residential space for each family member to have individual rooms. People yearn for open-style/ flexible layout plans and private space. A desired den right now is a space which satisfies both these needs. Complying with the present circumstances, we look into the den style which functions like a workroom, in addition to an individual room.

There is a little village called Spannum that is about a 30-minute drive north of Leeuwarden, the provincial capital of Friesland, Holland. Textile designer, Claudy Jongstra has her residence here. It's also her workshop and atelier. On the south side of this vast plot of land is her residence and on the north side, there is an atelier. On the west side, there is a factory. Her residence used the soil derived from this area so that the walls have round corners and it now has a soft touch. The residence was in a process of renovation so it had a rough image but Claudy's work displayed everywhere has been adding some warmth.
Originally, Claudy was studying fashion at an art school in Utrecht, but she was mesmerized by Mongolian nomads' tents that she saw in "Nederlands Textielmuseum", and became interested in felt works. She learned the forgotten techniques from the old literary documents and blended in the modern essence. As a result, she created her own world.
She is keeping 200 sheep called "Drents Heideschaap" of which there are only 1000 in the world. This type of sheep have beautiful long wool which is absolutely necessary for her felt work production. Her attractive felt which cannot be seen anywhere else include a blend of alpaca and cashmere and also a silk blend which is almost a see-through. Currently, there are over 500 kinds of felt. Claudy's unique and beautiful work is well-known in a wide-variety of industries, not just fashion or architecture.