Italy meets the Orient: how Japanese design influences the Salvatori approach

The principles of zen are applied in the field of interior design to create calm, harmonious spaces. The focus is on striking a balance between nature and what humankind has created, and this is achieved through the use of natural materials and elements, a minimalist style and neutral colours.

For example, if we look at a modern Japanese-style living room, we can expect to find oversize windows to allow natural light to flood in. On this note, light is considered in Japanese design, to symbolise purity and spiritual illumination and so it is little surprise that rooms that follow its principles will inevitably transmit harmony and balance.

Other elements that are often incorporated into the décor are plants, flowers and water features and these serve to create continuity and cohesion between outdoors and indoors, as well as reflecting the important role nature plays in Japanese culture. Entering a Japanese home, you will often hear the murmur of water in the background, which makes you immediately feel relaxed and serene.

One final key characteristic of a modern Japanese-style living room is the use of neutral colours such as white, beige, light brown and pearl grey, which create a soft, clean background.

Black is often introduced to define shapes and inject a harmonious accent. Red, representing the sun, is often found in smaller details. Colours such as blue, green and pink may be used less often, but they play a role in terms of their symbolic power. For example, blue is associated with water, while green represents nature.

At Salvatori, we are fervent believers in the power of colour. Every stone is its own fascinating world of different hues, created by Mother Nature over thousands of years and resulting in the myriad of unique patterns and colours that we find in every block, slab, tile and product.
By combining stones with opposing or complementary tones, we can achieve elegant contrasts that can be seamlessly inserted into any space or context. For example, Piero Lissoni’s Stone Tatami pairs textured tiles in Crema d’Orcia with borders in dark brown Pietra d’Avola to create a refined pattern that has clear Oriental influences.

Given that minimalism lies at the heart of Japanese interior design, it goes hand in hand with the modern living room approach we have just looked at. Neutral colours, clean lines, use of negative space and natural materials are all components that work together to lend a sense of harmony and understated sophistication to any room.

Elegance and a timeless aesthetic are a recurrent theme in Salvatori’s collections. Our approach is based on showcasing the purity of an object and celebrating the beauty of imperfections. Our style is contemporary and pared-back, without unnecessary frills and flourishes. This comes to the fore even more so in our collaborations with architects and designers such as Kengo Kuma, a master of the Japanese minimalist philosophy.

You only need to look at the basin and bathtub in his Ishiburo collection to see this, where he explains that “I aspired to maximise the inherent material quality of stone. Being immersed in warm water contained within stone brings instinctive comfort to human beings”. The result is a set of bathroom pieces that evoke a wonderful soothing sensation, while the neutral palette of Bianco Carrara, Crema d’Orcia, Pietra d’Avola and Silk Georgette® used reflect the typical colours associated with Japanese interior design.