In their search for the ideal year-round holiday retreat from their ‘box-shaped house’ in Tokyo, a Japanese family enlisted John Pawson Architects to design them a modern and minimalist vacation home on the island of Okinawa, the country's southernmost prefecture.
Developed by Taishi Kanemura from Pawson's London office, the execution of the interior program and external shape of the home was led by the site’s catenary curve. ‘The design traces the diagonal footprint of the plot, combining single and double-height spaces within a form that is closed and tapered to the rear, but to the front flares and opens like an eye over the headland, with the ground floor level raised to optimise sightlines to the ocean,’ explains the architect.
Local limestone was used in two locations within the home, featuring different finishes in each place; the kitchen unit’s countertop showcases a honed and polished version, while the property’s external pavement has a brush-hammered look. This play with the material palette continues in other parts of the house too. The bathroom walls are clad in polished marble, with the floor matched by the textured version of the same material. It comes accompanied by a vanity top constructed from solid white acrylic, with bathroom brassware in a chromed steel.
Japanese plaster clads the walls of the home, inside and out, excluding the entrance porch, which is encased in a veneered oak with an oil finish. This creates a welcome but subtle contrast to the house's overall crisp white volumes. The oak makes numerous appearances in the design, emerging again in the outdoor area’s benches and in bespoke pieces of furniture throughout the interior.
The Okinawa house is a bright and open family home that showcases Pawson's signature simple, uncluttered and natural style. Its clean and tranquil atmosphere and far-reaching ocean views provide a calming and meditative residential escape away from the buzz of the metropole.
The home's kitchen countertop is made from solid white acrylic and polished limestone
The retreat's interior program and external shape were led by the site’s catenary curve, explains the architect
Okinawa House is a bright and open family home featuring Pawson's signature clean and pared down style
The property features veneered oak with an oil finish and white Japanese plaster throughout
The front of the property flares and opens up to wide views of the ocean
INFORMATION
For more information on the Okinawa house, visit the John Pawson Architects’ website
Photography: Nacasa & Partners
-
Wallpaper* checks into Gansevoort Meatpacking, an art-filled hotel that mirrors the district’s glow-upThis sharp, stylish New York hotel is a fixture in its neighbourhood, where boutiques, restaurants and clubs have long since taken over spaces once occupied by slaughterhouses
-
Glenn Martens’ thrilling Maison Margiela debut was a balancing act between past, present and futureThe Belgian designer made his debut for the house last night with a collection that looked towards medieval decoration for a new expression of opulence
-
Peel back this Michigan lakeside house’s cool slate exterior to reveal a warm wooden homeIn Detroit, Michigan, this lakeside house, a Y-shaped home by Disbrow Iannuzzi Architects, creates a soft balance between darkness and light through its minimalist materiality
-
Mayumi Miyawaki’s Fukumura Cottage puts this lesser-known Japanese modernist in the spotlightDiscover the little-known modernist architect through this private home in Japan’s Tochigi prefecture countryside
-
A Karuizawa house is a soothing, work-from-home retreat in JapanTakeshi Hirobe Architects play with scale and space, creating a tranquil residence in which to live and work
-
Naoshima New Museum of Art is a home for Asian art, and a lasting legacy, in Seto Inland SeaThe Naoshima New Museum of Art opens, marking a seminal addition to the Japanese island's renowned Benesse Art Site Naoshima; we explore Tadao Ando's design
-
Behind a contemporary veil, this Kyoto house has tradition at its coreDesigned by Apollo Architects & Associates, a Kyoto house in Uji City is split into a series of courtyards, adding a sense of wellbeing to its residential environment
-
Kazuyo Sejima and Ryue Nishizawa on harmony, nature and their RIBA gongThe SANAA duo are celebrating their RIBA Royal Gold Medal 2025 in London today, and talked to us about self-reflection, the year ahead, and the need to create harmony in our environment
-
New book 'I-IN' brings together Japanese heritage and minimalist architecture at its finestJapanese architecture studio I-IN flaunts its expert command of 21st-century minimalism in a new book by Frame Publishers
-
Giant rings! Timber futurism! It’s the Osaka Expo 2025The Osaka Expo 2025 opens its microcosm of experimental architecture, futuristic innovations and optimistic spirit; welcome to our pick of the global event’s design trends and highlights
-
2025 Expo Osaka: Ireland is having a moment in JapanAt 2025 Expo Osaka, a new sculpture for the Irish pavilion brings together two nations for a harmonious dialogue between place and time, material and form
