CONTEMPORARY

'House of Shadows', in Tokyo, by architectural practice Studio MY (Hiromi Ko-ori and Toshiya Endo). The design plays deliberately with light - reflections, shadows and chiaroscuro - as its name implies. Key to this is a water garden running half the length of the building with a shallow reflecting pool, bridged by an elevated deck and open metalwork staircase leading down to the garden. The view down from the balcony of the upper floor onto the living area, which opens through full-height glass doors to the small water garden at right.