Architecture | Interiors | Visualisation

Kigumi Micro Home

Japan

2025

A shortlisted entry in the 2025 Buildner Kingspan Microhome Competition, placing in the top 40 from thousands of international submissions. KIGUMI.X.PRINT proposes a 25m² off-grid dwelling that fuses two ancient and emerging making traditions: the Japanese Kigumi technique of interlocking timber joinery without mechanical fasteners, and advanced 5-axis 3D printing using a bespoke geopolymer clay composite. The printed wall cassettes integrate structural, thermal, fire, and weathertight performance within a single material element — replacing the layered, failure-prone assemblies of conventional construction with something altogether more coherent. Internally, the space transforms between sleeping, working, dining, and living through a system of moveable partitions. The project is as much a research proposition as a design — an exploration of what a truly circular, low-carbon architecture might look like.

Kigumi Micro Home

Japan

A shortlisted entry in the 2025 Buildner Kingspan Microhome Competition, placing in the top 40 from thousands of international submissions. KIGUMI.X.PRINT proposes a 25m² off-grid dwelling that fuses two ancient and emerging making traditions: the Japanese Kigumi technique of interlocking timber joinery without mechanical fasteners, and advanced 5-axis 3D printing using a bespoke geopolymer clay composite. The printed wall cassettes integrate structural, thermal, fire, and weathertight performance within a single material element — replacing the layered, failure-prone assemblies of conventional construction with something altogether more coherent. Internally, the space transforms between sleeping, working, dining, and living through a system of moveable partitions. The project is as much a research proposition as a design — an exploration of what a truly circular, low-carbon architecture might look like.