WABI - SABI

Architecture style by
Japanese architect
Tadao Ando
What is Wabi - Sabi?
Wabisabi is the Japanese art of finding
beauty in imperfection and profundity in
nature, of accepting the natural cycle of
growth, decay, and death. It's simple,
slow, and uncluttered-and it reveres
authenticity above all.

What is more perfectly imperfect than all

things nature? A key facet of wabi-sabi
involves natural simplicity. Nature serves
as a reminder to find beauty in
imperfection. Overall, its raw textures and
forms reflect a passage of age and time,
in keeping with the core of the wabi-sabi
philosophy.
DEFINITION
Wabi stems from the root, which refers to harmony, peace,
tranquillity, and balance. Generally speaking, wabi had the

WABI original meaning of sad, desolate, and lonely, but poetically it

has come to mean simple, unmaterialistic, humble by choice,
and in tune with nature. Someone who is perfectly herself and
never craves to be anything else would be described as wabi.

Sabi by itself means "the bloom of time." It connotes

natural progression - tarnish, hoariness, rust - the

SABI extinguished gloss of that which once sparkled. It's the

understanding that beauty is fleeting. The word's meaning
has changed over time, from its ancient definition, "to be
desolate," to the more neutral "to grow old."
Japanese
Tea House
Contemporary architects have
redefined wabi-sabi within the
context of minimal design. Doing
more with less, is a Modernist
evolution of the wabi-sabi idea.

Simple though the final result

may seem, the process actually
requires deep knowledge and a
lot of work. And honestly, it is not
easy. Sometimes to create a space
with less, to remove elements
from a design, demands more
time and energy.
WABI Embrace
SABI Imperfections
LOOK
Look to nature

Mix n match

Repurpose
 CONCRETE

WOOD