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Japanese Design

8 Projects 41 Journals

About Discussions Projects8 Journals41

Japanese design is shaped by long-standing traditions of craft, restraint, and a close relationship between built form and landscape. Elements such as the engawa, the dojo, and folded or modular structures recur across architecture, product design, and the handling of materials like wood, paper, and clay. Designers working in this area often treat these traditions as a method rather than a style.

Community work on this topic ranges from small-scale objects and interiors, such as ecological toothbrushes, sake packaging, and little libraries, to civic and institutional buildings, including a traditional craft center and a large folded plate sports complex in India. Members also examine how Japanese ideas travel, showing residences in Bali, Queensland, and Sweden that adapt engawa-style thresholds and minimalist principles to local climates.

Top contributors

UNI Editorial35 works

Siddharth Cyriac1 work

minga architekten1 work

minga

Tokyo Dojo

The concept of the design was the idea to create a central place where the world of experience around sports and the fan community can be celebrated together. With organic forms, the dynamics of the sport is also shown in the building structure. The design language combines traditional japanese pattern and modern architecture with technology.

Joe

HILT - Ecological Toothbrushes

HILT is a manual toothbrush service that empowers its users to reduce their plastic waste by providing handles manufactured from a selection of longer lasting, recycled or degradable materials. An accompanying subscription service provides the users with bristle heads, these bristle heads are designed to manufactured using the minimum amount of plastic.

Flora

Sake House Firewater

The design idea was to create a place where sake can be experienced and tasted in different ways. The Sake House should not only be the focus for sake lovers, but also attract the younger generation with different events. The design components are derived from elements of sake making, patterns and materials from Japanese culture.

Michal

TEDZUKURI Traditional Japanese Craft center

Design for a Centre for Traditional Japanese Crafts in the city of Akita, Japan. A concept for an open exhibition and creative space to cultivate local handicraft traditions related to Kawatsura, Kabazaiku and Odtat Magewappa products.

Katherine and 2 others

Hierarchy

Sake House exploring playful changes in verticality through differing levels

Natalia

Little Library in Shakotan

The main idea of the project was to create a modular, transformable object with a simple structure, made of local materials. The priority was to fit the building into the character of Shakotan, which is a small fishing village living in harmony with the rhythms of nature and cyclical festivals.

UNI Editorial

publishedBlog5 months ago

Three Japanese Firms Build India's Largest Folded Plate Structure for IIT Hyderabad's Sports Complex

A 49-meter concrete span and a village of sawtooth roofs bring athletic and cultural life to a new campus outside Hyderabad, India.

Sports Architecture

Educational Building

UNI Editorial

publishedBlog3 months ago

Freebird Residence by Alexis Dornier: A Tropical Modernist Sanctuary in Bali

Floating living pavilion above pool anchors H-shaped tropical villa, blending Japanese minimalism, sustainable strategies, lush landscape, and sculptural interiors.

Housing

Architecture

UNI Editorial

publishedStory2 months ago

Northgate Engawa House by Arcke: A Harmonious Blend of Japanese Influence and Queenslander Architecture

Northgate Engawa House blends Japanese engawa and Queenslander veranda, creating multi-generational, indoor-outdoor living with sunken garden and serene greenery.

Architecture

Housing

UNI Editorial

publishedStory6 months ago

Sjöparken Retreat: A Lakeside Haven of Nordic Minimalism and Japanese Serenity by NORM Architects

Sjöparken Retreat stands as a remarkable example of contemporary wellness architecture, an immersive sanctuary that merges the serenity of Swedish nature with the refined simplicity of Nordic and Japan

Nordic Sustainable Architecture

Architecture