KOCHI: After a busy day at work, everyone needs a place of comfort for themselves. A space that gives the freedom to be your true self. A little cold breeze and a tiny green garden are all you need for a quiet evening, to be in zen.
Zen is a Japanese concept of simplicity, emptiness, acceptance, mediation, and selflessness. The word zen is believed to have originated from the Chinese word chan, which roots back to India -- the Sanskrit word Dhyana, meaning meditation.
The philosophy was born from Buddhism in the 11th century, and later the Japanese incorporated those meditative thoughts into their architecture to balance the energy and acquire a state of peace.
So to invite Zen into the home, you need to welcome more earth, fire, water, wood, and metal -- the five elements.
Albin Benny, the creative head of, Bcube Design Studio says, that in earlier times, people were used to ornamentation. “The huge and bulky designs were a sign of power and wealth, which were inspired by the elite rulers who came before us.”
But there is also an inborn need to be with nature.“There is a visual appeal in removing, artfully removing things that we don’t need” adds Albin. The generation is going straight back to where it all started; in search of homes and how their grandparents used to live in their childhood.
Also,implementing more Zen-inspired elements to bring ease to everyday lives. “Architects always love to make clean and straight-line designs with earthy elements, but the demand for a safe and protective home taints the idea of zen,” says Heaba Georgie, senior architect, at V Designs, Kochi.
“A creative person, an artist may choose a peaceful and calm atmosphere over a crowded interior,” she says. She also adds that there are clients who prefer their designs to bring a cooling aesthetic and are also willing to spend for the same.
The seven tenets of zen are Koko, Kanso, Fukinsei, Shizen, Yugen, Datsuzoku, and Seijaku. Each of them has their way to give you Zen.
Koko is absence -- creating a void in the living space with minimalism, which means eliminating anything and everything to give a sleek design. Kanso is simple, where everything is kept in its natural format. Fukinsei is leaving an imperfect or unfinished impression. Shizen means encapsulating the essence of nature in our homes. Yugen, or subtlety, is a space of curiosity. Datsuzoku is a retreat from the usual, to be free, to break the routine way of design. Doing nothing, living in a space freely is the last concept - Seijaku. A hallway with a chair, leaving it by the window is also a Zen way of building living space.
And every architect has their own ways of incorporating the tenets of zen into their designs. Architect Fidah Abdul Razak likes defined spaces, simple floor plans with large glass windows and open spaces to make it look clean. And Ananthu Radhakrishnan, civil engineer, Shobha Limited, Thiruvananthapuram, believes Zen is a way of balancing life and a symbol of harmony, where the soft point of contact and lighting matter in designing.
While architect Rose Koottiyanil wants to focus on wooden platforms and stone texture floor finishes along with a little water body, adding a serene beauty to the design. Avinash Joshy, founder of Studio Nirvana, tries to bring zen to all of his works. “Zen-inspired homes are simple and relaxed. It should be a space of complete calmness and bliss. So it is better to choose natural colours,” says Avinash. With light and minimal objects, his designs try to bring nature inside the house.
The living space is the base environment of any homeowner. From clubbing the gardens with living space to even making all of the furniture out of concrete and bringing anything and everything out of mud, the different shades of the zen-inspired designs are already in demand, according to industry veterans.
ZEN DESIGNS