Commubini

“Commubini” (combination of the words Community and the Japanese convenience store Konbini) is a house prototype linked to the new contemporary Japanese lifestyle, where single and lonely elderly people replaced families. The machiya (Japanese house-shop) is revisited. It becomes a place answering the needs of the community through service offer or social exchange. We can find on the first floor a workshop area (misenoma), which is distinguished from the private area by a threshold (genkan) where we traditionally leave shoes. The house works as a co-living place. There is a tatami room (zashiki) on the last floor where residents can gather around activities such as tea ceremony or a game of go in order to reunite the inhabitants.