Bjarke Ingels Designs Japandi Villas on a Japanese Island

AD100 firm BIG completed three vacation villas for NOT A HOTEL Setouchi on Sagishima Island, designed to blend with the steep, lush landscape. Each four-bedroom villa—named 360, 270, and 180 for their views—features retractable glass walls, floor-to-ceiling windows, and indoor-outdoor spaces. Architect Bjarke Ingels describes the project as a Scandinavian architect's fantasy of a Japanese villa.

EXPANDED:

The three villas—360, 270, and 180—are named for the breadth of views each captures from its hilltop perch on the island's southwestern cape. They belong to NOT A HOTEL, a hospitality concept offering fractionally owned vacation homes that operate as rentals when owners are away. Each four-bedroom residence incorporates rammed earth walls built from locally sourced soil with a cement binder, adding thermal mass for temperature regulation