House in Takatsuki is a 3-story residence in Osaka with 16 distinct split levels, designed by Yo Shimada of Tato Architects. The program rises through the building as a spiral sequence, with each level stepping up in elevation as the plan progresses. Walls and conventional floor plates are not used to divide the house; instead, step floors connect everything loosely, and the distinction between one space and the next is a change in level rather than a door or a partition.

The result is a single interior volume that reads differently depending on where within it you stand. The relationships between spaces shift as you move: looking up from a lower level, a higher platform might function as a ceiling, while from above, the same platform is a floor. The 16 levels give the house a spatial density unusual for its footprint, compressing a range of distinct zones into a building that would read from the outside as a compact 3-story volume.

The exterior is clad in blackened timber, a sharp contrast to the open, connected interior. Where the inside resists separation, the outside reads as a single closed surface. Shimada's practice consistently treats conventional elements such as staircases and floor levels as primary design material rather than secondary infrastructure, and House in Takatsuki takes that interest to a particular formal conclusion.