Golden clutters and excessive ornaments are being ditched for space, untouched walls and just the essentials. The mass production and thirst for fast and easy lifestyles have inspired the modern movement to go for what is less, for that is, at the end of the day, what is more. This philosophy triggered by Mies Van der Rohe, known for his Barcelona Pavillion, sets off the new design era, hence a new lifestyle of having around oneself, what really matters. As popular as it is today, it is rooted from different philosophies and cultures and not just the Western as one may think.

Looking through the Eastern cultures, for instance Japanese culture is known for their WABI-SABI philosophy, which is a way of life focused on accepting imperfection, impermanence and incompleteness as part of beauty and the natural cycle. Striving for perfectionism and exaggeration in consumption to compensate for what we think is not good enough is not part of the Japanese minimalist equation. Japanese architecture and interior living spaces are the emblem of simplicity and lightness from the use of natural materials like wood and stone, to the free spaces that draws in a sense of emptiness, declutter and clarity. Just like you might know who a person really is by who his friends are, you might know a person’s mind by where he lives. Values are identified by what a person holds on to, and in this case Japanese culture teaches us to let go of what you don’t need for you to free your home and hence your mind for the sake of seijaku : stillness.

Japanese architect Tadao Ando, a renowned minimalist explores the corners of his architecture by balancing form, light, space and materials as the key to his minimalistic design language. His designs are mostly dressed in concrete and glass, and often spell the purity that comes from simplicity. Ibaraki Kasugaoka Church in Japan is his most famous work known as the Church of Light. Moulded in a concrete shell, the material pours more darkness to the space to give power to the light that pierces through the carved cross embedded in the façade. The light cross remains the only Christian symbol in the church, emphasizing the importance of reduction of the unnecessary allowing the essential to become the focal point. He embraces the possibility of what nature can bring to architecture by letting light effortlessly speak through his concrete masterpiece. Most churches we know are ornamented to the bone, attracting the viewer to the godly message through artistic frescoes and stained glasses, whereas Tadao Ando emits the message through a quiet lane of design, the essence of what is primary and what is already there; hence through silence. He omits what we know as the Christian design language and introduces the emptiness necessary as one for a meditation temple. Minimalism pulls us away from the chaos of what surrounds us and invites us back within what’s inside.

However, some critics protest that minimalism has resulted into a lack of soul in design. The over simplification makes today’s products look less creative, cheap and mundane. It speaks less to the viewer and shows no sign of originality. Are we rationalizing design to the point where there is no more design? Or are our chaotic minds, lack of time and virtual life allowing us to minimize our surroundings to allow for our race to economic accumulations? There are two ways of looking at minimalism: economically and spiritually. We choose why.

There’s a certain blend and unification that comes from minimalism. The monochromatic cast and transparency give it a timeless manner, like the absence of the excessive offers it an eternity of stillness. As read somewhere “Minimalism is defined not by what’s not there, but by the rightness of what is there and by the richness with which it is experienced.” A culture that digs for abundance through quantity for instance the Western, may think this way of life and design is new although it’s not. This is an ancient way of thinking and living that is being manifested in today’s mass design and explored through conceptual architecture.