After online purchase, it took two months for the sofa to arrive—not an unusual lead time considering everything is made to order. Once shipped, tracking is sent to customers from the brand's delivery carrier.
I have virtually no idea what the finished piece will look like until I actually begin working with the wood. As a result, the form often emerges as I carve, and I frequently change my plans midway through the process. Naturally, I keep the many failures a secret.
Kintsugi 金継ぎ is known as the Japanese art of putting broken things back together, like broken pottery, using materials mixed with powdered gold and other elements. Instead of hiding damage, this technique celebrates the restoration of an object once viewed as broken, flawed, or imperfect. This same process can be seen as a metaphor for addiction recovery. Even for people with addiction who willingly choose recovery, there's an element of being remade that can't be ignored. Addicts often go through a period of denial.
The clients chose to remain in Yagi-cho while contributing to the continued use of its older building stock. With the support of a local non-profit organization involved in community development, they acquired the eastern portion of a large two-unit rowhouse that had remained vacant for nearly three decades.
Designed by Michael Kritzer, an industrial designer with Red Dot, iF, and Cannes Lions awards to his name, Dollights are inspired by creative Kokeshi dolls, those beautifully varied Japanese wooden figures that range from traditional to wildly expressive. The connection isn't literal. You won't mistake these for dolls on a shelf. But the DNA is there in the proportions, that satisfying relationship between a rounded head and a tapered body, the way each silhouette feels like it has its own quiet personality.
If there was only one interior design style setting the tone in 2026, it would be Japandi. Apartment Therapy's State of Home Design survey identified Japandi style as one of the year's top design aesthetics, according to insights from 140 designers - and it's easy to see why. As more people strive to create spaces that feel calming, intentional, and grounded in nature, Japandi's blend of Japanese restraint and Scandinavian warmth feels especially timely.
Japanese design has spent centuries perfecting the balance between restraint and richness. These seven gifts embody that philosophy, where every material choice and geometric decision carries intention. From transparent polycarbonate that frames music like sculpture to hand-planted bristles that honor century-old brush-making techniques, each piece reflects the considered craftsmanship that typically commands luxury prices. The precision is palpable, the materials exceptional, yet the cost remains accessible.
CIRCULUS Atelier is the working studio of Oka Architecture Design & Co., Ltd. (OAD) and a built application of the practice's CIRCULUS architectural framework, which examines circularity, continuity, and long-term adaptability in design. Conceived as both a in Yokohama, , and a prototype, the project investigates how digital fabrication can inform architecture as a system that integrates exterior enclosure and interior spatial treatment within a unified logic.