Inspiration On Housing
 

Hello everybody,
my wife spent several months living in Japan and has become totally addicted to japanese way of housing. We are building new house and she would like to implement there the japanese "genius loci". I have only general idea what´s going on even i have lots of catalogues and magazines on japanese interiors/exteriors. I have the master plan, but am missing the real life, those little differences which make the THING. What i´m looking for is a tip or advice how to catch the genius loci either in form of an personal experience or as a link on some webage with photos, comments, etc.
Sorry for my english. Cheers.
Robert.

This is a fascinating question. So you are looking for a Japanese genius loci...I think that could be different things to different people...maybe a tatami room with a kotatsu and a large closet holding futon. Maybe a koi pond outside or Japanese style garden...a raised entryway for removing shoes...

thank you for your response MMM, you´re right, different people different tastes, but anyway do you have a tip, where could i see some "life" tatami rooms? Thanks.

Sometimes nice Japanese restaurants have tatami rooms for private parties...

or you could pop round to larry ellison's house:

The Real Estalker: Larry Ellison's Japanese Freak Out

i do hope you guys have a good designer, because it is so easy for the japanese style to be done very badly. if possible i would look around your area for a minimalist interior decorator or architect,.... i think they would b more likely to translate the feeling instead of just the style.

and from looking around my living room in an old japanese house right now, the details and the joints are very important, its almost constructivism in that they dont hide the joints, but they display their workmanship in the intersections of columns and beams.

also the colour scheme and the contrast between soft and hard materials like fabic or paper on the sliding doors, tatami vs exposed timber work.

Quote:

Originally Posted by trunker (Post 770896) or you could pop round to larry ellison's house: The Real Estalker: Larry Ellison's Japanese Freak Out i do hope you guys have a good designer, because it is so easy for the japanese style to be done very badly. if possible i would look around your area for a minimalist interior decorator or architect,.... i think they would b more likely to translate the feeling instead of just the style. and from looking around my living room in an old japanese house right now, the details and the joints are very important, its almost constructivism in that they dont hide the joints, but they display their workmanship in the intersections of columns and beams. also the colour scheme and the contrast between soft and hard materials like fabic or paper on the sliding doors, tatami vs exposed timber work.

Thank you Trunker, i still do think i´m able do design it by myself (i´m the interior designer), but as i do have little experience with japanese houses, i´m collecting the informations and experience. Trunker, would it be possible to place somewhere few illustrations of the things you were talking about? For example SeeMyLiving - Welcome is easy to use.

Thank you

Regards

Robert

That's a very nice idea ,your wife will have a Japanese way and at the same time I'm sure she has her own touches concerning the décors or the surrounding.

For instance you have the living room where there is that special table on the floor or their gardens and if sakura trees "cheery trees" can grow in your country that would be awesome.

good luck wish you happiness in your new house:)

these are some designs







Here you keep a western touch with a Japanese one in the same place:vsign:

Nice ideas Rafif, i appreciate the photos. My daughter has already decided to have a golden fish in her room.;) Apropos, where did you find that masterpiece for dolls? And by the way, how is the living in North Africa?

Robert

Konnichiwa;

Oh to be honest having a golden fish is fantastic I like fish but cats the most:)

and I'm happy to see that you've liked my ideas ,for that masterpiece it's from google:D I like japanese stuff they are so gorgeous.

for the last question hmmmmmm:confused: north Africa hmmmmm what shall I say it's totally different you can't find similarities at all neither with western nor eastern let's say unique:vsign: and by the way this word is French "apropos"vous pouvez parler en français?


I'll try to find some pictures for our buildings in North Africa as soon as possible and put them here if you would like to see them :)



Sayounara

Rafif, i´m definitely interested to see your living in Africa, you can place the photos here. Apropos mademoiselle, this is the flat where i do currently live with my wife and daughter: SeeMyLiving - Details of user's home..

Robert

thats quite a cool site and yeah i'll try and post something.

i'm sure you can do it yourself, but i thought you might be doing a whole house so you would be looking for a designer. my mistake.

the pictures rafif put up are very good and should give you a feel for what you are after.

i think apart from the wood work, pay attention to the colour scheme. not the actual colours themselves but the ratio of light to dark colours, so if you look at the pictures, you'll see the structural things are the darkest, and it all gets lighter from that.

tatami will probably be much too expensive and since you already have nice wood floors i dont see the point of tatami unless you really want them. you could put a nice rug down, then get a low table and cushions, and the rest can be work on the walls and ceilings of the room.

something like fake timber over the existing columns and beams, maybe wood ceiling, stuff like that.

I really do like the Japanese style houses and rooms I'm seeing in this topic.

Thank you very much Trunker, it´s worth to hear from anybody native. But anyway, since the house will be totally new i have to think also about the floors, do you know the approximate price per square meter of tatami floor?
Looking forward to see you at SeeMyLiving.

Thank you

Regards

Robert

This is a good solution for what I encountered when I remade my dining room to fit my Japanese tastes. I didn't think about the fact that while my closest friends are of Asian descent, they have been very westernized and definitely prefered the western style dining table and chairs. I still have both in separate rooms, but most people gravitate to the chairs, so give some thought to who else might need to be accomodated.

Konnichiwa,

I'm so sorry for being late but a little bit buzy excuse me.

I promised to post some North African pictures of buildings here they are



In Morocco buildings have a sense of tradition they seem like casles of Ala Din and Sindibad





These are living rooms enjoy we call them Les salons Marocain

Oh, this is really a piece of tradition, nothing which you would use for everyday life, i love the decorative way of thinking. It would definitely win the contest at SeeMyLiving - Current contest. By the way, why don´t you upload it there? Thank you for your enthusiasm, this is really inspirative. Cheers Robert.