Marc Newson

Designer working across a wide range of disciplines, creating everything from furniture and household objects, to bicycles and cars, private and commercial aircraft etc.

I would say that Japan is my favorite place to live. I love the everyday aesthetics of Japan. The obsession with detail really impresses me. The Japanese have such a different sense of visual logic. TOKYO is most definitely my favourite city in the world; I am always excited by the mix of the ancient and traditional with the current craziest pop culture.

My favorite form of architecture in Japan is first and foremost traditional Japanese. The lobby of the Hotel Okura Tokyo is a great example of mid-century modern and I particularly like that space. It is the atmosphere of the space and the way it functions-like a well oiled machine -rather than the architecture itself that impresses me.

The Okura was built just before the Tokyo Olympics and it still has the atmosphere of the era. Everything in the Okura is clean and ironed. When I get back to the hotel in the deep of the night after spending time in Roppongi, they are cleaning up public spaces. They are very quiet and perfect. I think it is very Japanese, very Tokyo.

Hotel Okura

Main building lobby is known for its soft illumination of the Okura Lantern, which continues to shed light on the lobby since the hotel’s opening in 1962. http://www.hotelokura.co.jp/tokyo/en/