In this refurbished modern-day Tokyo apartment, Naruse Inokuma Architects, in collaboration with Hiroko Karibe Architects, applied the ancient principles of wabi-sabi to a contemporary setting.
Unfinished plywood and cement smeared over concrete give a renovated Tokyo apartment the appearance of an elegant building site. The architects decided to leave the walls of the interior unfinished, a surprisingly pleasing aesthetic mixed alongside modern fixtures and furniture. The concrete coalesces with the light wood floors and built in wooden shelving and storage units. The architects wanted to blend the old with the new, thus retaining old elements.
"By using new materials to create a sense of the old, we created a dynamic interior; the existing space adapts to the new, yet the age-old beauty remains." — Naruse
