Yuputira is a house that the Japanese multidisciplinary artist Mariko Mori designed for herself on Miyako Island, Japan. The island lies closer to Taiwan than to the Japanese mainland, a three-hour flight from Tokyo, and is known for white sand beaches, coral reefs and a mild climate.
An artist who works in white
Mori has worn only white since 1998, when she had a spiritual experience in which she saw an intensely white light. Her art is white too: luminous, translucent, very minimal and futuristic. She works across sculpture, installation and fashion, and the house follows the same direction.
Five years of form studies
Mori, who also has homes in New York and Tokyo, bought a plot of land on the island and spent five years making 3D models of possible forms for it. She then brought in Tokyo-based Ring Architects to build the result. The rounded structure looks more like one of her large sculptures than a conventional house. She says its shape was inspired by bleached shells on the shore.
Studio above, tearoom below
The upper level holds a studio. The lower level contains a bedroom, a tearoom and two guest rooms. Meditation and the tea ceremony are part of Mori's practice, so Japanese traditions sit alongside the futuristic look. The name Yuputira comes from the local sun god.
As a general point, when a client spends years testing forms before building, the result tends to be a house shaped closely around one way of living and working.
Project credits
- Project: Yuputira, residence of Mariko Mori, Miyako Island, Japan
- Design: Mariko Mori
- Architects: Ring Architects, Tokyo
- Photography: Yoshihiro Makino
- Text: Tuija Seipell
- Source: The Cool Hunter