Recently, Nottuo, a leading architecture firm in Japan, has brought their new work Naoshima Lodge, a modern Japanese luxury hotel that combines design, art and architecture. As the name suggests, the project is located on Naoshima Island, one of the "art islands" of Japan's Kaishan Prefecture, in a quiet, undisturbed area.
Naoshima Contemporary Hotel is a wooden and steel structure built on a former rice field in a valley surrounded by mountains. The two main buildings are connected by a covered walkway, with a small central pavilion containing a sunken fireplace. Guests are guided by a series of embedded stones in the ground leading from the entrance to the main building.
The main building includes the entrance hall, cafe, bar and EN restaurant. EN serves Japanese or Western food in the evening, with 80 percent of its ingredients sourced from the Seto Inland Sea. Here, local ingredients and cuisine are enhanced.
The adjacent annex contains 11 spacious guest rooms, each with its own private bathroom. The rooms are arranged in rows, inspired by traditional Japanese "longya" row houses.
Intending to embrace the region’s abundant nature and natural resources, the Naoshima Ryokan ROKA’s exterior is covered with tsuchi-kabe earth-clad walls with timber panels made from shou-sugi-ban charred cedar. The ryokan is strongly intended to be unique to the area, using natural materials from the Seto Inland Sea such as earthen walls made of Awaji Island soil, Tosa Washi paper from Kochi, Aji stone from Kagawa, granite from Naoshima, and cedar and cypress from Okayama.’ He continues, “By using natural materials such as wood, stone, and soil, each of which has a different expression, rather than standardised industrial products, we hope that when one looks at the details, one will discover shapes and textures created by nature.
- Architect: Nottuo
- Photos: Katsuhiro Aoki Tadayuki Minamoto
- Words: Gina
