This stunning aerie, by Japanese studio Kidosaki Architects, recently erected in Yatsugatake, Japan, resolves interwoven approaches of the minimalist and Modernist, while integrating the wrap around sight-lines of the surrounding mountainside. Two angled beams support a graceful cantilever of  sleek lines and angles, accentuated by the graceful cantilevers of the low-pitch roof.

Brilliant sunlight bathes the interior, which is clad in warm woodwork and soft tones of color. Harmonious proportions lend the house a grace that is elusive to similar structures: it achieves a balance within the typical limitations of the Minimalist palette with the dramatic natural landscape in which it is situated, without seeming overbearing. Only the exterior rail seems curious: why would it not have been frameless glass, so as not to obscure sight-lines?

Modernism is the single most important new style or philosophy of architecture and design of the 20th century, associated with an analytical approach to the function of buildings, a strictly rational use of (often new) materials, an openness to structural innovation and the elimination of ornament. It has also been called International Modern or International Style, after an exhibition of modernist architecture in America in 1932 by Philip Johnson. Modernism also encompasses Futurism, Constructivism, De Stijl and Bauhaus. The style is characterised by:

• asymmetrical compositions

• use of general cubic or cylindrical shapes

• flat roofs

• use of reinforced concrete

• metal and glass frameworks often resulting in large windows in horizontal bands

• an absence of ornament or mouldings

• a tendency for white or cream render, often emphasised by black and white photograph*

*quote from Architecture.com