A quick, easy guide to wabi sabi design by Japanese: forget about wabi sabi, look for WA modern instead.
Wabi sabi has been trending in design, but were you noticing that Japanese people are rarely involved in the conversation? Isn’t it odd, as wabi sabi is a traditional Japanese aesthetic concept? Why aren’t people getting inspiration directly from Japanese experts or contemporary Japanese design style?
The Ginkaku ji in Kyoto, completed in 1490, is considered as
the culmination of wabi sabi culture and architecture.
The original wabi sabi is a really old concept
which needs some tweaking to fit our modern life style.
There is a simple reason for it: Japanese do not use the term wabi sabi to describe particular design styles. It is an old aesthetic concept that captures the gist of traditional Japanese worldview. The fact that two major wabi sabi arts, sado (tea ceremony) and noh theater, are both performing arts, suggests that wabi sabi is really an overarching philosophy on what life is, that goes way beyond particular design styles.
For that reason, Japanese don’t use wabi sabi to describe design styles, and that’s why you don’t find wabi sabi design ideas from Japanese designers and experts. It’s simply not a good keyword if you want to look for ideas directly from Japan.
Also, if you are a fan of Japanese architects and hoping to find some inspiration from star architects such as Kengo Kuma, Tadao Ando or Sou Fujimoto, unfortunately you won’t hear about wabi sabi design from them either. They have their own interpretation of how to embrace traditional Japanese worldview, design and styles, which cannot be summed by a somewhat superficial term like wabi sabi design.
Kuma to Shika project by Nakagawa Shoten with Kengo Kuma.
Kengo Kuma often leverages Japanese-ness in his works,
and helps design products that use traditional materials/techniques.
But they won’t be called wabi sabi.
Japanese architects usually have their own approach to embrace Japanese-ness.
So what would you do if you want to get inspiration directly from Japan for your wabi sabi home, wabi sabi furniture, wabi sabi interior etc.? Also, what if you are interested in adding a little more colorful elements to your interior design, or if you like traditional Japanese design?
Japanese interior design that leveraged traditional Japanese design.
If you are interested in them, look for “和 モダン (wa modern).”
Forget about wabi sabi, and try “wa modern” instead. It is written 和 モダン. Wa means “Japanese” or “domestic,” so “wa modern” simply means “modern adaptation of traditional or authentic Japanese style.” It’s a weird word, but it suggests that “design” or “style” started as foreign (Western) concepts for Japanese, so they had to re-discover and re-imagine traditional, authentic Japanese style to fit in today’s modern life style. It also suggests that concepts like wabi sabi needs some modern tweaks to be relevant in today’s living environment.
When you use “wa modern,” the application will become more colorful, because not all aspects of Japanese culture is as subdued and monotonous as wabi sabi. It will give you more options.
Unfortunately, compared to wabi sabi, “wa modern” is not trending on the Internet. You type 和 モダン as is as keyword so that you can pick up inspiration directly from Japanese sources.
Besides wa modern, there are some other sources you could explore the essence of traditional Japanese-ness for your wabi sabi home ideas.
Wa modern
Incidentally, it’s becoming increasingly common in Japan to re-discover traditional, authentic style and re-invent it using modern approach. It has nothing to do with wabi sabi design trend outside Japan, but you can get inspiration from what’s going on in Japan. First, people are renovating old buildings by adding modern elements. They are also re-imagining traditional design or craftsmanship to match modern living environment.
People are renovating traditional buildings by adding modern elements.
Left: Setouchi Minato no Yado
Right: Renovated Kyoto machiya
Japanese are also re-imagining and re-designing traditional products.
Left: Modern tatami mattress has different sizes and is often without edge finishes.
Right: Old style drawer (tansu) and traditional pottery.
Early modernism in Japanese architecture
Another interesting source is early stage of modernism in Japan, which is from the end of 19th century to the middle of 20th century. Architects, designers and artists in those eras faced serious internal conflicts between what they grew up experiencing and Western disciplines they studied as a young elite, and often attempted to blend them in a lot more explicit manners compared to contemporary creators. You can see really unique tweaks of traditional Japanese details in them.
Top: The Kunio Maekawa House built in 1942
Bottom left: The Koide House built in 1925 by Sutemi Horiguchi
Bottom right: The house of Korekiyo Takahashi
Authentic traditional Japanese design elements
If you are into traditional Japanese design, get inspiration directly from them. You won’t be able to use the same materials or products, but you can apply the same concept or same design principles.