Doors of the East

In a country where space is scarce, and facade space in particular, the door is sometimes the only chance to make an impression. Also, private life in Japan is kept behind said closed doors. In the compact city of Tokyo, wood screens are closed, shoji screens are translucent, and the living space happens on the second floor.

Houses are crammed into the city side by side, and much like the American town home, the front door and space for the car are the only thing on the first floor, usually on a zero lot line, the front door almost directly off of the sidewalk. The front door then becomes an important expression of style to the outside world, the literal and figurative threshold between the very public and very private worlds.



Doors are unique in commercial spaces too, where very small businesses and storefronts have sliding doors to conserve space.