Numbers House / Mitsutomo Matsunami Architect & Associates

A series of lookalike domestic structures [Mitsutomo Matsunami Architect & Associates] presents a problem for both residents and guests. On the one hand, there is the sense of being solitary but stuck within a set of blandly identical buildings. On the other hand, visitors have to find a particular domicile from a larger group.

Adding this gesture to the facades works as a way-finding device, ties together the disparate units, but also makes them look and feel different, all without adding considerable cost to lower-priced, multi-family residences — via Dornob