Fast becoming a favorite, Kouichi Kimura Architects, who you may remember from the impressive "COMPLEX," return with another boxy build. Located in Shiga, Japan, the home sits in a residential area with fields, farms and a traditional shrine playing backdrop. Taking over 330 square meters, the nondescript exterior has been designed to blend into the background, the U-Shape floorplan centred around the courtyard that gives the home its name. Offering plenty of privacy, the house is sheltered from all angles, drawing light from its central outdoors space; the pebbled courtyard featuring only a narrow water channel as decoration. Minimalist, monochrome and stripped back, Kouichi Kimura Architects hit another high.