Wood and Partition Ideas

Influenced by Southern California’s Case Study House program, designer Bob Butler conceived a luminous residence and guest house on a sloping lot in Nashville that originally held a red-brick ranch-style duplex. Western red cedar lines the walkway from the carport to the entrance. The Globe lights are from West Elm.

An exterior light from Barn Light Electric illuminates the entry.

White oak cabinetry features throughout the Weave house—including in the marble-clad master bathroom. The walk-in shower area with a copper soaking tub transforms from a private retreat to an outdoor experience with a pivoting door, custom built by Identity Construction.

Back in the entryway, a Japanese-style Shoji screen delineates between public and private spaces by separating a hallway that leads to the home's bedrooms.

The sliding bedroom doors are inspired by Japanese shoji screens, and allow the space to be opened up without the obtrusion of conventional swinging doors.

Lee Buchanan of Lee Build created a screen of white ash slats beside the kitchen as well as the entry. "The stairs are beautifully integrated into the kitchen so the kids and I are always talking and someone is always sitting on the bottom steps,

Agora Fukuoka Hilltop Hotel in Fukuoka, Japan

In the couple's guest room, authentic shoji screens have been converted into sliding closet doors. “I have a slight obsession with Japanese precision and culture,” Mel says.

The Tanpopo House's family tearoom is an updated take on Japan’s traditional flexible, open-plan tatami-mat room. Here, the charcoal fire pit for the teapot is an electric coil embedded in the floor, and the flooring is a durable rattan from Indonesia. Plaster oozing in between oak planks gives the room a warm, rough-hewn feel—a Fujimori signature.

The sprawling 16-acre Katsura Imperial Villa was commissioned in the 17th Century by a pair of father-son princes, and attributed to a cadre of craftsmen and consultants. Though its rich architectural language—a polychrome of woods, wallpapers, decorative plasterwork, and swooping roofs—is more resplendent than restrained, its geometric sensibility and modular construction easily aligned with the ideals of 20th-century modernists.

Shōden-ji (2004) - Precursors to what we might today call “user-centered design,” Buddhist temples are scaled to the 1:2 ratio of the tatami, the rush mat designed with the human form in mind.

The second floor features this clever storage design—a “hidden space,” as co-design studio refers to it.

A playful wood screen greets visitors at the front entry, as well as providing support for a cushioned bench seat. Durable materials such as the Doug Fir cabinetry, White Oak flooring and a slate tile floor provide warmth and longevity.

Funda-in (2008) - Honoring the meticulousness of the temples’ mostly unknown architects, Hassink photographed 34 locations over the course of a decade. Her fascination with Japanese religious vernacular yielded a compelling photo series that reveals the hidden dynamism in these carefully composed structures.

The firm also designed a slatted screen next to the staircase.

This northern Wisconsin summer home includes a seven-foot-tall entry screen made from raw heirloom cedar.

Bean Buro’s Urban Cocoon draws inspiration from Japanese teahouses. This reference point can be felt at the entryway, which features light timber and slatted screens.

Aeru is a Japanese brand specializing in products for children six years old and under. To develop a concept for their first brick-and-mortar outpost, Aeru enlisted the Yokohama-based firm Nosigner. The design tream created a movable shelf for the 570-square-foot storefront. "The space was designed to be flexible for seasonal changes and events," says Nosigner's Mayumni Tokumoto. A mobile cabinet anchors the space. "It was inspired by traditional Japanese tiered doll stands and hand-held folding fans," Tokumoto adds.