Contemporary Japanese design is known for its aggressive brand of minimalism, whittling hair salons into venues as sterile as operating rooms, scrubbing dentists' offices until they're blank, and making the personal home as pristine as a plain white box. So it's none too surprising that, in Japan, a holiday villa can be a faceted microdwelling as simple as a salt lick, a faceted dollop gleaming white in the middle of the Karuizawa forest. Designed by Japanese firm Makoto Yamaguchi Design, the villa serves as a weekend retreat for a couple of contemporary-art-wielding musicians, who hold small concerts in the space. Considering the dearth of color, the bright white walls, and the concrete floors, the space could come off as, erm, uncozy, though one cannot deny: that sunken jacuzzi looks rather tempting.
· Makoto Yamaguchi Places Art Gallery in Karuizawa Forest [Design Boom]
· 17 Projects Proving Nobody Does Minimalism Quite Like Japan [Curbed National]