Wabi Sabi

Wabi-Sabi is the latest interior design trend. But what is it?

Apparently it’s an ancient Japanese aesthetic that sees beauty in nature, simplicity, imperfection and impermanence. Wabi is a spiritual path to simplicity and solitude whilst Sabi is a natural process through age resulting in objects that are irregular, unpretentious and impermanent. Isn’t Wabi-Sabi therefore the new name for minimalism?..

Well, minimalism is also meant to be an aesthetic experience to stimulate a holistic perspective of life. But, as I discussed in a previous article, minimalism seems to have had its day, mainly because the media and the mainstream home-stores have commercialised the look (but not the concept)… so interiors and furniture became cheap-looking, shallow, empty… nothing…

However, it seems that the concept of spiritual and simple living has reinvented itself – or it is being rediscovered under another label.

Both minimalism and Wabi-Sabi derive from the concepts of Zen Buddhism, which endorses simplicity, purity and nature. Whilst minimalism focuses on the use of pure shapes and natural materials, Wabi-Sabi also celebrates nature but mainly its imperfections and irregularities.

These are the basic design principles of Wabi-Sabi:

Materials
Use materials that are organic and natural – those that look better with age i.e.wood, metal, cotton, paper & stone. Their texture should be uneven, rough and unordered

Shapes
Objects should have a natural, irregular shape or be formed organically – i.e. by time and wear. All physical characterises should come from the material itself – it should have no human intervention. The bottom line is: the imperfect is perfect.

Colors
Colors should be neutral, subtle and muted – inspired by nature. Such as bamboo greens, earthy browns and stone grays. Diffused or subdued lighting is most suitable.

Style
Simplicity, balance and sobriety are the keywords. Spaces should not be uniform and regular, but "circumstantial" – just as Nature is. Yet all elements should fit within the whole. Your aim is to create a balance between space and the objects with in it to imitate such balances as are found in nature. Clutter is a no-no, so have regular clear-outs. Only have furniture & objects that you regularly use or are just naturally beautiful.  Be frugal – before you buy anything, ask yourself whether you can live without it.

So, as you can see – Wabi-Sabi has the same basic design principles as minimalism. The main difference is that minimalism sees perfection in symmetric shapes such as the square, circle and the triangle –  whilst Wabi-Sabi celebrates irregularities and imperfections as having their own natural symmetry. But the fundamental concept behind them is the same: disciplined simplicity  is the path to spiritual wholeness.

In the West Wabi-Sabi is still the up-and-coming interior design trend (perhaps the new Feng Shui?) – it is yet to be seen how the media and the home-stores will capture the concept and cash in by making it into a deco style rather than a design process derived from a conceptional ideology.