06 - Japan where less is more

Photo credit Laziz Hamani

I am passionate about interior design and I love to travel. I thought I would combine the two here on my blog by giving you my top ten selection of the most inspiring countries in the world when it comes to interior design and architecture… I will present one country each month, over the next 10 months. This list is of course non exhaustive and rather based on my personal experiences and aspirations.

Japan has a distinctive aesthetic concept called wabi-sabi defined by artist Leonard Koren, as “beauty of things imperfect, impermanent and incomplete”. Wabi-sabi can be found in subtle details like the asymmetry of a ceramic bowl or the irregularity of wood grain.

Japanese design looks simple and minimalist with an emphasis on contrasts: lines are often used as patterns alongside curved and rectangular shapes, muted colours are paired with accents of red, black, gold. 

The idea of fluidity of space is also prominent: interiors are equipped with flexible boundaries like moveable screens and sliding panels, the outside is brought inside with no clear separation between garden and building.