Explore the ingenious architecture of Shishi-Iwa House in Karuizawa, Japan, by Pritzker Prize laureates

Comprising 11 guest rooms divided into three terrace villas that offer both private and social experiences, each meditative guest room on the lower floor opens to private gardens with over 250 trees—ranging from evergreens, cherry blossoms to Japanese maples–that change colours with the seasons.

Meanwhile, the rooms on the upper floor lead to private balcony terraces overlooking the surrounding trees and scenic views of Mount Asama.

Alongside furniture pieces by renowned architect Alvar Aalto, Ban’s approach to minimising environmental impact extends indoors, fitted with tube and birch plywood Carta chairs, bespoke cardboard tube bed headboards, and circular Paper Taliesin lamps.

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Through timber-framed glass doors, the largest of their kind in Japan, SSH No.01 also houses communal spaces with original artworks from Japan’s radical avant-garde 1950s Gutai movement, and displays of centuries-old tea bowls.

These light-filled spaces include the semicircular grand room and the secluded library, where guests can sip rare Karuizawa whiskies and pore over hundreds of art and architecture books.

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SSH No.02, also designed by Ban and constructed in 2022, is a linear building, nestled in the lush pine trees, juxtaposing the curvilinear structure of SSH No.01. 

Suspended in mid-air, the sophisticated rectangular site features the warmth of the cedar wood and the straight lines of the glass walls.

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The outdoor space Forest Terrace emerges from among the treetops, where guests can sip on SSH’s signature maple leaf tea, and “experience the unity of architecture and landscape,” says the renowned Japanese architect.

Through retractable glass doors, the public space on the second floor underneath the triangular column-free wooden truss structure consists of Shola, serving seasonal Japanese-French gourmet dishes, and the intimate Wine & Whisky Bar with a tiled bar counter and high-scale coloured wall panels, where rare wines, whiskies and cocktails are served.

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On the first floor, 12 guest rooms encased in cedar walls feature a handmade cypress bathtub, bespoke chairs with woven paper seats and SSH tables with geometric designs, as well as headboards designed by Sapporo-born textile designer Asami Sato.

Adorning the walls in SSH No.02 are world-class art curations that resonate with the architectural design and natural environment: from German-born American photographer Ruth Bernhardt’s poetic depictions, to Aaron Siskind’s dynamic black-and-white abstract expressionist photographs.

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Building on the success of Ban’s architecture and design for Shishi-Iwa House, the luxury retreat has expanded with the addition of SSH No.03 in 2023, designed by Ryue Nishizawa, fellow Pritzker Prize laureate and co-founder of SANAA Ryue Nishizawa.

Paying homage to traditional ryokans and their architectural methodologies, SSH No.03 comprises a scattered network of ten double-storey pavilions interconnected by engawa (covered walkways) and garden courtyards.

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Playing on Ma, the Japanese concept of negative space that emphasises intervals in design for contemplation, black burnt cedar-clad façades contrast against the light-filled interiors with light floor-to-ceiling hinoki cypress wood sourced from the Gifu Prefecture in Nishizawa–a durable and aromatic “sacred” wood in Japan used for centuries to build shrines, temples and palaces. 

Cut-out windows frame the seasonal views of the surrounding 100-hectare forest of Karuizawa Yacho no Mori (Karuizawa Wild Bird Sanctuary), whereas the calming citrus-edged aroma of hinoki fills the air inside the ten stand-alone Western-style rooms or tatami suites and one cabin villa.

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Alongside Nishizawa-designed cabinets and bed fixtures, decorating the guest rooms are iconic mid-century furniture designs, such as the 1955 Easy Chair designed by Swiss architect Pierre Jeanneret, Arne Jacobsen’s 1958 Swan Chair, and the classic 1859 Bentwood Stool by Michael Thonet.

SSH No.03 also includes a bathhouse with hinoki-scented soak, ochanoma lounges that serve traditional sweets, and a traditional teahouse—embellished with approximately 50 original ukiyo-e woodblock prints from the 1840s to the 1960s.

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