Built around a cascading valley of rice terraces that reflect the horizon’s endless play of colours, the Kai Yufuin hot spring ryokan by Hoshino Resorts, is one of Kengo Kuma & Associates' latest works. Composed of a public building, a bathhouse, guest rooms and separate villa suites, the project is defined by elements of traditional Japanese architecture and the region's farmhouse vernacular that form the basis of the design. Located on the island of Kyushu in the Ōita Prefecture, famous for its hot springs especially in and around the city of Beppu, the Yufuin valley basin has an abundant resource of mineral-rich water. Both these elements unite in this project to form the identity of Kengo Kuma's newest Japanese hospitality offering.
The lobby floor – made from a mixture of gravel, soil and lime – invokes tataki, or the traditional dirt floor entrance of an agricultural home; while the spherical shape of the front desk mimics kamado, the traditional farmhouse kitchen stove. Representative of an itama (room with wooden floor), the Travel Library has flooring made of bamboo, as well as lighting fixtures designed by Kuma from washi paper, inspired by the fluttering motions of local butterflies in the fields. Behind the library, the Rice Terrace Deck is a public space that looks out over the rice fields, with wooden flooring and seats composed of aromatic shichitoi (perennial grass) tatami, a material whose production and use are being revitalized in the region.
The vaporous indoor pool of Kai Yufuin’s bathhouse has dark, subdued colours, with black wood-grain panels plus walls and floors made of black pebbles, allowing the views of the imposing Mount Yufu to remain unadulterated. In the semi-private dining area, the walls are made of washi paper designed with local elements such as straw, rice, bamboo and shichitoi grass, once more evoking the aesthetics of a traditional farmhouse. The modest lighting, hanging over each table and made from wrinkled washi paper and thin bamboo sticks, is another Kuma original.
One of the most distinctive features of the property is its independent villa suites, bungalows nestled among the rice fields as single-storey farmhouses. Made of wood, the suites have a hipped roof shape – with black cedar planks typical of west Japan – which deviates from traditional Japanese architecture through the thin details of the eaves and the exterior's strong textures. The interior's cedar floors are finished with a technique called uki-zukuri, which allows the pattern of the wood to remain visible, while the veranda, in the back of the living room, opens it up further towards the landscape.
The structures, facing a Sawtooth oak forest, stand on a gentle slope and have their own private bathhouses made from cedar. Nodding to its location in a prefecture that produces the largest amount of giant bamboo timber in Japan, the hotel’s main guest building features rooms that are an expression of local bamboo crafts, and include bamboo headboards and sofas. Another distinct element in these rooms is the lighting, featuring a unique spiral shape made by shichitoi grass craftsman Chika Iwakiri and inspired by traditional firefly baskets, a further design detail directly connecting the property to its environment's rich heritage.
INFORMATION
-
Inside D.S. & Durga’s new Los Angeles store, inspired by Ray Kappe’s 1960s California homeCult fragrance brand D.S. & Durga has opened a second Los Angeles store in Silver Lake, inspired by Ray Kappe’s 1967 Pacific Palisades home
-
The design-led restaurants to know in 2025This year’s most read-about restaurant openings to inspire your 2025 cravings, from a playful diner in New York to an art-and-dining hub in Marrakech
-
From Polestar 1 to Polestar 6, a definitive guide to the acclaimed EV brand's cars and conceptsNow that the new Polestar 3 and 4 are on the road, we take stock of Polestar’s progress and chronicle its evolution, cataloguing all the EV car company’s models and concepts to date
-
The most whimsical hotel Christmas trees around the worldWe round up the best hotel Christmas tree collaborations of the year, from an abstract take in Madrid to a heritage-rooted installation in Amsterdam
-
Six brilliant bars for your 2025 celebrations, hot off the Wallpaper* travel deskWallpaper’s most-read bar reviews of the year can't be wrong: here’s inspiration for your festive and new year plans, from a swanky Las Vegas lounge to a minimalist London drinking den
-
Wallpaper* checks in at Yoruya, a Japanese inn where less is always moreYoruya, which transforms a 110-year-old former kimono merchant shopfront and residence in Kurashiki, is an exercise in graceful restraint and craft
-
First look: Noma Kyoto returns and aims to ‘double-wow’ dinersNoma Kyoto opens on 8 October for a ten-week pop-up inside Ace Kyoto. Thomas Lykke, co-founder of OEO Studio, tells us of the interiors’ autumn-forest inspiration
-
Kengo Kuma’s new Kyoto hotel is ‘a sanctuary of ethereal beauty’A former ryokan inn, Banyan Tree Higashiyama Kyoto offers onsen rooms equipped with natural hot spring water, and a contemporary take on a Noh theatre
-
A minimalist teahouse makes a serene addition to a Tadao Ando-designed Kyoto hotelOgata at The Shinmonzen is a contemporary reinterpretation of a Japanese teahouse that sells traditional blends, confectionery, crafts and fragrances
-
Tour the new Four Seasons Osaka, where time stands stillSet within a 49-storey tower, Four Seasons Osaka takes the traditional ryokan experience to new heights
-
Aman Residences Tokyo float high above the Japanese capitalAman Residences Tokyo, Aman Group’s first standalone branded residences, feature dramatic yet serene interiors by Yabu Pushelberg
