LAST YEAR, JAPANESE ARCHITECT KEIJI Ashizawa found a 20-year-old house by chance and bought it on impulse. It was designed by the late Mashihito Nagata – an influential architect specialising in residential design and who designed 164 houses before passing on in 2013.

“The quality of the architecture was of such a high standard, and the spaces were very neutral and easy to work with. The building hardly needed any renovation,” shares Ashizawa. “I only painted the floor a lighter colour, and added furniture and lighting pieces.”

Located in Yugawara, which is near the sea and “famous for its hot springs and seafood”, the house became the holiday home of the Tokyo-born founder of Keiji Ashizawa Design (KAD). Ashizawa has designed many houses in Japan, but is most celebrated for projects such as the cafe interiors of Blue Bottle Coffee, as well as Ishinomaki Laboratory and Karimoku Case – two furniture brands that he founded.

“Not just good design, but honest design” is how Ashizawa defines his philosophy, which he believes is embodied by his furniture design. “Both of these furniture brands are very simple and honest in terms of material and structure; the designs are not driven by trends or marketing strategies,” he asserts.

A sense of refined calm

Most recently, his firm was noted for some of the most exciting hotels to open in Tokyo this year – the design of Trunk (Hotel) Yoyogi Park and the penthouse levels of Pan Pacific Group’s Bellustar Tokyo, done in collaboration with Denmark’s Norm Architects. While located in totally different settings – the former is a low-lying building facing a lush park near Shibuya and the latter offers sky-high views from the top floors of the Tokyu Kabukicho Tower – both hotels emanate a sense of refined calm through the use of natural materials, gentle palettes and streamlined volumes.

These qualities are also present in Ashizawa’s holiday home. “Usually I visit once or twice a month, although I wish I could go more often,” says the busy architect, who finds respite from urban life here due to the plot’s capacious yard and natural surroundings. “It is a nice quiet place to relax,” he adds. Sometimes, he invites friends over or holds staff retreats here. Occasionally, he comes with clients to discuss ongoing projects.

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The city dweller also has to contend with visitors of another kind when immersing in nature. “We always have a good time here but being in the countryside, there are big moths. It not only terrifies my two daughters, but also me – the one that has to exterminate them. It had been a long time since I screamed out so loudly,” muses Ashizawa on the first time he was tasked for this mission.

The timeless architecture makes the house a perfect foil for the furniture he has designed with Norm Architects for Karimoku Case. “Because of my work, I knew that putting the furniture in with proper thought would make a big difference in the spaces. The holiday home also serves as an experiment, to see how the products can work in a space,” Ashizawa explains.

Karimoku Case was founded in 2019 after Hiroshi Kato, the scion of Karimoku – a timber furniture manufacturer with a history dating back to 1940 – met Ashizawa. Kato had been a long-term fan of Ishinomaki Laboratory, which started as a simple workshop for the local community affected by the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake’s devastating tsunami, and resulted in a collection of simple, utilitarian timber furniture.

Designed for living

Rather than simply designing collections of furniture, Ashizawa came up with an original idea – to create a brand whose pieces were conceived for actual spaces. The brand’s name pays homage to the Case Study Houses (an initiative by Arts & Architecture magazine that tasked architects to create housing experiments after World War II in America).

In Ashizawa’s holiday house are several pieces designed for different Case projects. The slim profiles of a bench, highlighted by sun rays streaming in through sliding glass doors, was conceived for Azabu Residence – a home in Tokyo designed by KAD. There is also a rotund armchair designed for the Jing’an Kerry Centre Cafe, whose form adds softness to a corner.

Above the dining table that was designed by KAD for the Michelin-starred Swedish restaurant ANG floats Italian architect Achille Castiglioni’s iconic Frisbi pendant lamp for Flos. Both embody the circular form and a sense of lightness due to their segregated elements. “We are really looking forward to adding art and new lighting,” remarks Ashizawa on taking his time to fill up the holiday home with meaningful pieces.

The architect’s preoccupation with the handcrafted started when he was a young child. “I was always good at making things. Since then, I wanted to become someone who makes things. Also, my father was an architect. Looking back, that did have an influence on me,” Ashizawa remarks.

After studying architecture at Yokohama National University, he worked for his professor’s architecture firm for six years before embarking on a two-year stint at a steel workshop called Super Robot. There, he designed and made steel furniture – a valuable experience that taught him how to “handle materials”. On the consistent collaborations with Jonas Bjerre-Poulsen and Frederik Werner of Norm Architects, Ashizawa states that these are instrumental to his design journey.

“We have been working with Norm Architects since 2017. This was possible as we both work on architecture as well as furniture, and our sensibilities for materials and details are very similar. We also have great respect for the design and traditions in Japan and Denmark. It is important to raise the quality of each other’s work as much as possible in the process. The exchange of thoughts, sketches and images is always a great learning experience for me,” shares Ashizawa.

Open to collaboration

This openness to collaborate with other architects is rare in the ego-driven industry. But those close to Ashizawa would know that he is far from egoistic. Singaporean designer Gabriel Tan, who is also the creative director of Japanese craft brand Ariake which Ashizawa contributes to, shares: “Keiji is one of the most international-minded Japanese characters I know. I believe it is his openness to collaboration, and curiosity towards the world and other cultures that has set him apart.”

“This comes across in his work, which is not only contextually relevant but also embodies a positive (attitude),” says Tan, who highlights Ashizawa’s Sagyo bench and dining table. “Keiji was the first designer to work with a more geometric language, which makes our collection more eclectic. And he not only works very hard but also is very sociable and generous with his time. The first time I visited him in Tokyo, he took me to an intimate house-warming party of a home he had just completed. The way he relates to his clients, almost always becoming a close friend through the design process, is something that translates to the narrative behind the spaces he creates.”

This revelation contrasts with the image of the young Ashizawa. “I heard I was not an easy child… that I didn’t agree at all,” chuckles the architect. Yet, that childhood trait, while challenging for his parents, has proven most useful in our fast-paced, over-stimulated world. Sticking unwaveringly to his ethos, amid trends that come and go, has benefited many who find rest in his world of simple, honest design.