What people often think of as traditional Japanese culture is actually a reflection of Tokyo culture and aesthetics of the Edo period—during the early 17th through the 19th centuries. When Peter Remedios, managing director of Hong Kong-based Remedios Studios, was tasked with the design of the Ritz-Carlton Kyoto, he channeled his own love of Japanese culture into a luxury hotel that captures the cultural aesthetic of the city and its ancient culture. “Kyoto is the center of all culture in Japan,” Remedios says. “You have this vast difference between places like Tokyo, which is Edo period, and Kyoto, which was the ancient capital and a very historical city.”
The 136-room property sits on the banks of the Kamogawa River, a building that is a contemporary interpretation of Meiji period architecture (1868-1912), fashioned after machiya, which are traditional Kyotian wooden townhouses. A moratorium in the area restricted the height of the building, prompting Remedios to design downward, creating an inward-facing property with a forecourt and entrance two levels below ground (the lobby, restaurant, and pool and spa are all located below ground level).
Challenged to figure out how to channel light downward into the basement levels, Remedios’ solution was a vertical rock garden with a levee that rises back up to the ground level. “The garden is really what captivates your attention through the space,” he explains. “It’s that one unifying element that goes all the way down through the different levels. It brings natural light as well as a sense of nature, which is one with the Japanese aesthetic.”
For the spa level, originally conceived with a traditional hotel lap pool, Remedios felt it important to reflect the spirit of an urban resort, as opposed to that of a city hotel. He created a sort of “subterranean grotto,” he describes, “kind of dark and mysterious. The whole hotel has a sense of theater—Kyoto is a very theatrical city. So to capture that sense of mystery—you don’t quite know what you’ll see around the next corner—all these things kind of unfold.” The space’s walls and floors are lined in a mottled stone that is lit from below and low lanterns line the perimeter. A blue and indigo glass mosaic pattern creates a bottomless feeling in the pool and spilling water visually extends the rock garden.
A nighttime ambiance continues in the guestroom corridors, which are lined with washi lantern-inspired lighting. Inside the rooms, set under low ceilings (thanks again to the height moratorium), Remedios’ design is relatively long with lighting and furnishings focused on horizontality rather than verticality. Light wood flooring and detailing is reminiscent of Japanese homes, and matchstick blinds emulate traditional sudare screens, “which are like a blind used on balconies with eaves,” Remedios says. “They restrict both your views of your neighbors as well as the neighbors’ view of the inside, so you can focus on the garden. Everything is very low.”
