Photo: Kenta Hasegawa
BIG‘s NOT A HOTEL Setouchi design (first revealed in May 2024) just opened on the remote island of Sagishima in Japan’s Seto Inland Sea. The resort project consists of three villas built from rammed earth using soil sourced from the site.
Photo: Kenta Hasegawa
Photo: Kenta Hasegawa
The 323,000-square-foot development also includes a beachfront restaurant and private beach. The villas (named 180, 270, and 360 for their viewing angles) step up the hillside along existing roads, following the island’s contours while opening toward the surrounding archipelago.
Photo: Kenta Hasegawa
Photo: Kenta Hasegawa
Rammed-earth structural walls expose layers of local clay like geological strata, while large glass facades were inspired by traditional Japanese shoji screens. Black slate floors reference tatami layouts, and the interior program is organized around open living spaces with bathrooms and storage housed in separate skylit pods.
Photo: Kenta Hasegawa
Photo: Kenta Hasegawa
“On one hand, each home is like an inhabited view, open and extroverted,” noted BIG founder Bjarke Ingels on his team’s design inspiration. “On the other, their spinal walls outline a private and protected space — open only to the sky.”
Photo: Kenta Hasegawa
Photo: Kenta Hasegawa
Landscape restoration was central to the plan: According to NOT A
HOTEL, grasses at the site were harvested before construction and later
replanted alongside olive trees, lemon trees, and native vegetation.Â
Photo: Kenta Hasegawa
Photo: Kenta Hasegawa
Low-reflective
solar tiles, operable facades, deep overhangs, and onsite rainwater
collection support passive cooling and irrigation across the site.
Photo: Kenta Hasegawa
Photo: Kenta Hasegawa
The list of collaborators includes Maeda Corporation, ARUP Japan, 1moku, NOSIGHT, BOCS, Mir, and LIT design.Â
More photos in the image gallery below.
Video courtesy BIG
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