Ikigai

About Ikigai

Your Way Of Living At Ikigai
The space to pursue what you love. To find your sustainable passion. The path to meaning and essence of your being.

Come rain or shine, changes and the unexpected; yet unwavering your ikigai journeys with you towards serenity. A quiet Zen-like charm with whispers of buzz from the nearby Novena district beckons as you arrive.

Simple lines creating forms that stir emotions, connect people and weather the passage of time.

Tomoko Kawao
Japanese calligrapher Tomoko Kawao, one of Japan’s most high-profile shodō (calligraphy) artists today, is behind the art of Ikigai . She started her practice of the art at six, taking up shodō classes in which she discovered her talent . In 2004, she took up apprenticeship with the shodō master Sho shu, embarking on the path to become a shodō artist after graduating from the university.

Now an artist in her own right, Tomoko has won multiple awards in Japan and abroad . Her works have appeared in the Rugby World Cup official movie and he opening film for NHK’s popular historical drama “ Yaeno Sakura”. She has also written signs for the Kyoto and Hankyu Arashiyama train stations, as well as the title of NHK’s new show, “ Kyokoto Hajime ”.

One of her masterpieces – Correlation (Ko-ō) series – focuses on brush movements in the air. Apart from two dark points of each piece of work, the myriad lines created were traces of ink dripping onto the paper from her brush above as it moved through between the two points. The other and more recent Hitomoji series sees the artist include herself as part of the characters and completed work.

What did you hope for Ikigai to convey?
As a concept, the idea of living in the present moment.

How does Ikigai reflect your philosophy of art? What challenges did you face?
As I created this piece, I made a conscious effort to focus on the flow of the writing, from start to finish, to not once let the brush stop moving. As I expressed in an earlier series of works titled Ko -ō, the droplets of ink that fall onto the work are a way of tracing the brush’s movement through space. Though each written character is a separate form, they are all connected by a single thread of movement. I liken this to the temporal movement of our lives – something that’s impossible to backtrack on, and also impossible to jump forward through. I want to express the spirit of living truly and powerfully in the moment.

What was most challenging was determining the amount of ink. I experimented many times with differing amounts of ink in the brush, in order to achieve just the right expression in the ink drop traces.

What kind of emotions emerged and empowered you when you created this work?
While I am creating a work, I focus completely on it, to the point where I cannot hear anything around me. In this moment I feel I am truly alive. Then once I have finished a piece of calligraphy, any sense of achievement I funnel into energy for my next one.

What are the differences between writing in English and in Kanji characters?
Obviously, there are linguistic differences between English, which is a phonetic alphabet, and Kanji, which is an ideographic script whose characters each carry a distinct meaning. But when writing in English, I think of an entire word as if it were a single kanji character, and express it in such a way that the brush strokes and the flow of the form are unbroken.

What does Ikigai mean for you?
Through this work I was given the opportunity to think about my own ikigai, and once again, I was reminded just how essential calligraphy is to my life.

What is your ikigai? When and how did you find it?
In my junior high school and high school days, I became quite ill, and calligraphy was what got me through that time. Later, at university I came to a point where I considered giving up the practice forever. That’s when I realised that I truly could not live without it.

How has it guided your personal and artistic journeys?
I believe that the expression I can accomplish through calligraphy is a link between me and the society. This is where my ikigai comes from. My next duty is to think about how I can give something back to the art form itself.

Yip Yuen Hong
Award-winning Architect

Ikigai is designed by four-time President’s Design Award winner Yip Yuen Hong and finds its unique place in Novena, the storied neighbourhood that is a juxtaposition of modern swanky architecture and cafes, and heritage shophouses and old bungalows.

Yuen Hong is an advocate and a practitioner of a solutions-driven design approach in which simplicity takes centre stage. That simplicity from distilling complex requirements to create a space that brings excitement and magic is thus, his ikigai.

What is the design concept behind Ikigai?
My concept is to create something of great serenity, of quietude and calm. It’s because I’m reacting to the noise that we have, the sort of visual noise that we have in abundance. From the user’s point of view, you’d be looking for clean, very no-fuss kind of look. Very subtle, very understated.

How does your design philosophy speak to the brief for Ikigai?
My tendency is to go for a simple and authentic expression. The vision is to create a sense of luxury with a minimal palette and finishes .

I’ve limited myself to using charwood, which is reinforced concrete with charwood texture. It [charwood] is a materiality that’s not much used or seen in this part of the world. What I’m trying to do is use this material and continue it all the way to the inside, with different types of wood, different tones of granite.

The idea is to have the two extremes in materiality – on the one handsome thing very brutalist, while on the other side, something very polished. For instance, when we use granite against charwood, this contrast of the polished versus the brutalist – from two different ends of the spectrum – result in something that’s very elegant.

It’s not easy to do, but this is what we’re striving towards. We want to create some kind of delight and excitement that lifts the spirit, and hopefully this will be that little magic we conjure up in the architecture.

What does the design of Ikigai embody?
I’m trying to create a sanctuary, a haven for people to be themselves and to express themselves. It is also a refuge for people to shut down from the world and if possible, shut their minds too. The colour scheme is very muted. The exterior is grey, almost black, with dark tinted glass curtain walling. Internally, we have different shades of grey, a variety of granite, and also different types of wood. We try to push the architectural expression to achieve something unique and different.

What’s your ikigai?
My design philosophy is about distillation but at the same time, to provide a practical living space for the home owners. It is much in line with the modernists’ theory of Form follows Function, but with a dash of magic thrown in.

Living with purpose, to let brightness eclipse shadows.

Loving what you do, to do good and well, through thick and thin.

Being here, for what you believe, for those you love and for what’s to come.

The Look Of Ikigai
A dwelling that blends the green and peace of Shrewsbury Road with the masterful strokes of brutalist and simplicity.

A bold mix of forms that encapsulates stillness yet it isn’t static. Here, and now. Where you root yourself.

Embrace life for all its wonders, as well as imperfections.

The Garden Of Ikigai
The foliage, rocks and trees diffuse the tropical heat and humidity to transcend into coolness and a deep calm. Lush greenery and tranquility encircle the residence, designed to relieve you from the fast pace and stress of a modern-day lifestyle. A garden that ties you with the fundamentals of the world – trees and plants on the land laid with sand and stones, framed by the sky overhead. Peaceful, meditative and vibrantly green. You amble through a line of graphite columns amid a rhapsody of towering trees, lively bushes and colourful blooms thats way with the gentle breeze. Sitting on one of the stone benches along the nature-filled path inspires reflection, to look inwards and at your life’s journey. It is your oasis to quiet the heart and freshen the mind. To find beauty of the natural world, as well as depth of simple things.

The Inside Of Ikigai
Simplicity extends into Ikigai ’s interior in a minimalist touch that combines the timeless elegance of Japanese aesthetics with the modern flair of Scandinavian design. The hybrid style combines art and nature for a balanced and perfect blend of function and form.

The similarities in design sensibilities of the two styles can be traced back to 150 years ago when ties between Japan and Scandinavia, especially Denmark, began in trade and cultural exchanges. While they are on the opposite sides of the globe, both value simplicity and functionality, sustainability and a love of natural materials like wood, as well as a deep respect for craftsmanship. Traces of Japanese influence are seen in today’s Danish ceramics, furniture, architecture and minimalism, as is the case for Danish elements in Japanese art and aesthetics.

The cross over harmonises the Scandi notion of ‘ hygge ’, (cosiness) and Japanese ‘ wabi-sabi ’, (beauty in imperfection), using a plethora of natural materials, muted colours, cleanlines with well-curated furnishings to create a calming atmosphere to unwind.

Relax, renew and revive, washing away the worries of the day to reconnect with your mind and yourself

Subtle and muted hues, enriched with the occasional strong shade. Pared-down styling accentuated by materials from nature.

Around Your Ikigai
The quiet of Shrewsbury Road exudes the atmosphere to find spiritual strength for those who seek, buttressed by several places of worship along its stretch.

Venture beyond to the nearby Novena district where a cluster of malls, cafes and restaurants will excite and entice with palatable delights for the senses. Or go further from the Novena MRT station that connects you to the rest of the island city. Ikigai is also easily accessible to some of the hot spots in the Central Region.

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