WABI- SABI

The Concept of Wabi-sabi was fundamental for me to see things from a different perspective.

I have always been fascinated by Japanese culture. This way of being extremely conservative in terms of traditions but, at the same time, very open in welcoming innovations. This duality, visible in many cities in Japan, has developed the ability to harmonize with the context and never appearing out of tune.

Wabi 侘 can be traduced as “austere beauty”, while Sabi 寂 means “rustic patina”.

This philosophy refers to the beauty of nature, which is itself unstable, impermanent and imperfect.

We can see this everywhere around us: from the changing of the seasons to the circle of life. From the branch of an old tree to the wall of a building.

We are, as human beings - as much as a season or a tree - perfectly subject to our imperfect nature.

The “patina of time” embodies a re-appropriation of nature, through a visible chemical alterations surfaces, which involves all the materials exposed to air, soil, sunlight and water.

Applying the Wabi-sabi philosophy to design means considering the buildings no longer as a monolithic “statues”, but giving them the capability to be perfectly part of an impermanent process.