# Yoko Kloeden Design > A philosophy-led architectural practice creating calm living environments. > Founded by Kyoto-born designer Yoko Kloeden. Based in London, working globally. ## About the Founder Yoko Kloeden was born and raised in Kyoto, Japan. She holds an MBA from INSEAD and had an earlier career in business and finance across Asia, North America, and Europe before training as a designer at The Interior Design School in London. She founded Yoko Kloeden Design in 2016. Yoko's design philosophy draws directly from the spatial traditions she grew up with in Kyoto — temple gardens, tea ceremony architecture, the interplay of light and shadow in traditional Japanese homes. Monocle credited her with introducing the concept of Yugen to the Western design canon. ## Yugen: The Overarching Philosophy Yugen is a Japanese aesthetic concept with no direct English translation, often described as profound grace and subtlety. In Yoko's interpretation for residential design, Yugen refers to the quiet, fleeting moments of beauty and contentment found in everyday home life — early morning light through a gap in the curtains, birdsong from a garden viewed through a kitchen window, the calm of an uncluttered room at the end of the day. YKD's entire design approach works towards creating homes that encourage these moments. Yugen is not a visual style but a felt quality — the atmosphere a home creates for the people living in it. ## Five Design Principles YKD's work is guided by five principles drawn from traditional Japanese architecture and spatial philosophy. Together they form a proprietary framework for designing homes that foster calm and balance. ### 1. Hikari (Light) Light and shadow are the founding principles of the Japanese sense of aesthetics. In traditional Japanese houses, shoji screens soften natural light while allowing it to flood in from the garden. Tea rooms used deliberately small windows to reduce light and heighten presence. Interior materials — clay plaster walls, lacquered surfaces — were chosen for how they received and reflected light. YKD applies Hikari by designing with natural light as a living, changing element: opening size, orientation, seasonal adaptation, surface materials. This includes the deliberate use of darkness — dark-toned bedrooms for better sleep, dramatic entrance hallways, bold guest loos — recognising that controlling shadow is as important as welcoming light. ### 2. Nagame (View) In Japanese architecture, windows and doors serve as picture frames for garden views. The garden is typically designed first, and the house is then oriented to face specific views throughout the seasons — including ceremonies such as Tsukimi (moon-viewing) in autumn. YKD designs views from multiple vantage points within a home: transitions between rooms, sightlines at mealtimes, the view from a home office. The principle extends beyond gardens to framing storage, entrances, and interior vistas that create curiosity and a sense of progression through the home. ### 3. Ma (Space) Ma translates to internal or space. In zen gardens, empty space is pristine and celebrated — a positive element, not a void. Boundary objects exist only to shape the space between them. The related concept of Yohaku no bi (the beauty of emptiness) uses uncluttered space as a device to allow the mind to settle. YKD embraces Ma by creating intentional breathing room — wall-to-wall built-in storage that preserves open space above, rooms where materiality is highlighted through restraint, landing spaces that prove emptiness is far from boring. ### 4. Shizen (Nature) The Japanese relationship with nature runs through architecture, daily rituals, and the tea ceremony. Traditional buildings used humble, locally sourced materials: tatami from rice straw, shoji screens from washi paper and bamboo, clay plaster walls. Tea utensils were created by anonymous artisans, allowing attention to rest on the natural elements. YKD honours Shizen through natural and locally crafted materials — lime paint, hand-glazed zellige, salvaged Victorian floorboards, clay vessels by local artisans — and through the integration of gardens, vertical planting, and natural views into everyday living spaces. ### 5. Taru O Shiru (Less is More) Taru o Shiru translates to I know what is enough. In Japan, with 70% of land being mountainous, people have lived in dense cities for centuries, combining space efficiency with the traditional virtue of minimalism. Architecture acts as a quiet backdrop that nurtures the activities happening inside. YKD applies this principle not as extreme minimalism but as intentional editing — understanding what truly matters in a home and removing what does not serve it. Clients sleeping on tatami without bedside tables, kitchens where form and function merge without ornament, underused vertical space transformed into vertical gardens. ## How the Principles Connect The five principles are not independent rules but facets of a single approach. Hikari shapes how light enters; Nagame frames what you see; Ma provides the breathing room for both; Shizen grounds the home in nature and natural materials; Taru O Shiru ensures nothing unnecessary competes for attention. Together they create the conditions for Yugen — those quiet moments of everyday beauty that make a home feel deeply right. ## Core Pages - [About Yoko Kloeden](https://www.yokokloeden.com/about/) - [Services](https://www.yokokloeden.com/services/) - [Journal](https://www.yokokloeden.com/journal/) - [Contact](https://www.yokokloeden.com/contact/) ## Services - Architecture & Project Management - Interior Architecture & Design - Garden Design - Art & Styling ## Design Philosophy (Case Studies) - [Design Principles - Hikari (Light)](https://www.yokokloeden.com/design-principles-1-hikari-light/) - [Design Principles - Nagame (View)](https://www.yokokloeden.com/design-principles-2-nagame-view/) - [Design Principles - Ma (Space)](https://www.yokokloeden.com/design-principles-3-ma-space/) - [Design Principles - Shizen (Nature)](https://www.yokokloeden.com/design-principles-4-shizen-nature/) - [Design Principles - Taru O Shiru (Less is More)](https://www.yokokloeden.com/design-principles-5-taru-o-shiru-less-is-more/) ## Key Articles - [Our Guide to Japanese Design](https://www.yokokloeden.com/our-guide-to-japanese-design/) - [Yugen - Philosophy Behind Our Design](https://www.yokokloeden.com/yugen-philosophy/) - [Can a Home Be Calm and Bold?](https://www.yokokloeden.com/can-a-home-be-calm-and-bold/) - [A Tale of Two Gardens](https://www.yokokloeden.com/a-tale-of-two-gardens/) - [Homes as Living Systems, Not Objects](https://www.yokokloeden.com/homes-as-living-systems-not-objects/) - [The Secret Behind Japanese Interiors](https://www.yokokloeden.com/the-secret-behind-japanese-interiors/) - [Where Minimalism Meets Warmth](https://www.yokokloeden.com/where-minimalism-meets-warmth/) - [The Quiet Beauty of Yugen](https://www.yokokloeden.com/the-quiet-beauty-of-yugen/) - [The ABC of Japanese Gardens](https://www.yokokloeden.com/the-abc-of-japanese-gardens/) - [Where Home Meets Garden](https://www.yokokloeden.com/where-home-meets-garden/) - [How to Create a Japanese Bathroom](https://www.yokokloeden.com/how-to-create-a-japanese-bathroom/) - [Why Your Garden Needs an Architect](https://www.yokokloeden.com/why-your-garden-needs-an-architect/) ## Press - Monocle — credited with introducing Yugen to the design canon - Living Etc — Desert Moon project feature - 25 Beautiful Homes — Verdant Oasis feature (April 2026) - Square Mile — Japanese interior design in London - Yuzu Magazine — Essence of Japan project - Grand Designs Magazine, AD International, Homes & Gardens, House Beautiful, Real Homes, The Sunday Times ## Projects - [View Projects](https://www.yokokloeden.com/projects/)