At dawn on Saturday 5 March, National Geographic Channel and a team of scientists, engineers and two world class balloon pilots successfully launched a house measuring 16 feet by 16 feet and 18 feet high, using 300 eight-foot coloured weather balloons from a private airfield east of Los Angeles. The launch – inspired by the Disney/Pixar film “Up” – set a new world record for the largest balloon cluster flight ever attempted.

It is a question much older than even this aged Japanese home, the original portions of which date back over three centuries: how does one pay due respect to traditional forms when making contemporary additions, expansions and/or remodels that necessarily impact the existing site and structure?