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Press Release

Rinn Kyoto Miyagawasuji Hitotose Aki Private Hotels

A' Design Award 2025 Silver Winner in Interior Space and Exhibition Design

21 April 2025

Rinn Kyoto Miyagawasuji Hitotose Aki Private Hotels by Miki Orihara
Rinn Kyoto Miyagawasuji Hitotose Aki Private Hotels by Miki Orihara
Rinn Kyoto Miyagawasuji Hitotose Aki Private Hotels by Miki Orihara
Rinn Kyoto Miyagawasuji Hitotose Aki Private Hotels by Miki Orihara
Rinn Kyoto Miyagawasuji Hitotose Aki Private Hotels by Miki Orihara

Miki Orihara · CLIENT: Rinn Kyoto Miyagawasuji Hitotose Aki

Rinn Kyoto Miyagawasuji Hitotose Aki is a hotel interior located on Miyagawa-suji, a street in Kyoto that keeps a traditional streetscape. The design follows the strict local rules on building colors, shapes and styles. The lighting plan leads guests from dim light at the entrance to brighter rooms, and indirect lighting reveals the texture of the walls. Washi paper made with a local paper artist is used in several ways, including kakishibu treatment, koyori twisting and fukuro-bari layering. The aim is a calm and warm space for comfortable stays.

Press Kit

Unique Properties
This facility is located on Miyagawa-suji and features a design that emphasizes harmony with its surroundings. The lighting plan makes full use of materials and cooperation with a local washi paper artist has been designed with local production for local consumption in mind. Kakishibu washi paper and the koyori technique are used to add shading, aiming to create a facility with concern and warmth in the traditional streetscape.
Dimensions & Packaging
Although Japanese paper is used extensively, it is expressed in a variety of ways. Japanese paper mixed with clay and colored Japanese paper plus plastering, kakishibu, which has been used since ancient times for its antiseptic and water-repellent properties koyori, in which Japanese paper is picked up and twisted by hand fukuro-bari, in which the surface is covered to seal the cavity, and furthermore, lighting is installed in the cavity.
Tags
Interior Design, Hotel Luxury, Living space, Guesthouse, Asia , Japan
Production Technology
Kyoto has strict regulations in place to protect its traditional landscape, and the colors, shapes and designs of buildings must conform to a prescribed style. We have actively worked to comply with these regulations, incorporating external lighting into the interior of the first floor without any sense of incongruity, and creating a “stillness” and “movement” atmosphere on the second floor, created by Kyoto artisans.
Design Challenge
While overcoming the strict landscape regulations, how can we create a new style without destroying the good image that many people have of Kyoto's machiya? We also carefully considered what kind of measures would be needed to ensure that guests would be comfortable in the hot summers and cold winters.
Project Duration
605-0801 4-297-10 Miyagawasuji Higashiyama-ku Kyoto city
Completed on October 26, 2023.
Operation Flow
Design plays an important role in shaping cities. I also think it has a role to play in passing on culture to the next generation. I hope this book will be a chance for many people to learn about the importance of design.
Research
We held discussions with the Japanese paper artists about colors and construction methods, and solved the problem in a variety of ways. We also reread works such as Junichiro Tanizaki's In Praise of Shadows, E. Oryong's The Shrinking Japanese Mind and Bruno Taut's Nippon and summarized our way of thinking.
Inspiration
The space has been created to reflect the Japanese aesthetics of drawing in, with the intention of capturing the atmosphere of Miyagawa-cho, Kyoto, inside the room. To change from the dim light upon arrival at the inn to the brightness of the interior, the lighting is based on Junichiro Tanizaki's In ei Raisan. In the guest rooms, indirect lighting is used to accentuate the texture of the walls, and the materials and lighting are carefully selected.
Image Credits
Main Image / Toshihide Kajiwara
Image #1 / Toshihide Kajiwara
Image #2 / Toshihide Kajiwara
Image #3 / Toshihide Kajiwara
Image #4 / Toshihide Kajiwara

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