N Strips is a minimal home located in Osaka, Japan, designed by Jun Murata. The 39-year-old building, which contains both dwellings and offices, harmonizes with its urban surroundings while forming an iconic presence. Due to the fact that the outer wall had become debilitated, and the public area had not been properly maintained, the architects felt it was necessary to repair the entire building from the ground up.

To the north, there is a beautiful view of a park, and although there are no buildings facing the south, it was necessary to maintain privacy from that side due to new apartments being built within the near future. After removing part of the peeling cement, the surface of the facade was then carefully repaired. In addition, vertical louvers were proposed to not only to maintain privacy, but also to serve as a solution for not exposing the uneven surfaces and new piping of the outer wall. Each louvers is approximately 2.55m long with a 30mm thickness and 75mm depth. Vertical louvers beyond 300mm are installed with rhythmical bumps. As a result, the new facade creates various expressions throughout the day. By day, its linear shadow changes dramatically from the sunlight. By night, the louvers are illuminated by indirect lighting.

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