Mio Path of Water Domus Feriarum ab Ke Chen, Mengxi Xu and Jiahua Xu

Opus Mio Path of Water Domus Feriarum a designatore Ke Chen, Mengxi Xu and Jiahua Xu est victor maxime honoratus praemii praestigiosissimi 2026 Praemium A' Design Award Aeneum in Categoria Certaminis Architectura.

AesArchitectura· 2026

Mio Path of Water Domus Feriarum

a Ke Chen, Mengxi Xu and Jiahua Xu

Cliens: Not A Hotel

Victor praemii Praemium A' Design Award Aeneum in Categoria Architectura

5,950

Victor Praemii Verificatus

Verifica Statum Praemii pro #180563

Vide apud A' Design Award Communicatum Insigne Praemii

Colores

Designum

De Mio Path of Water Domus Feriarum

Mio Semita Aquae est domus feriarum ad caelum pluviosum maritimumque insulae Yakushima in Iaponia designata. Hospites sub aditu tecto adveniunt et per porticum siccam a pluvia tutam in partem mediam habitandi cenandique transeunt, quae oceanum spectat. Tria cubicula cum diaetis suis tamquam conclavia tranquilla diramantur, quorum unumquodque balneum privatum habet, ut coetus domum communicare possint privatione secreti nulla. Balneae thermales circuitum simplicem sequuntur: sudatorium, immersio frigida, balneum et solarium refrigerandi. Structura ferrum cum tecto ligneo gravi aperto coniungit, et tabulatum cedrinum adustum frontem aedificii tuetur.

Agnitio

De Praemium A' Design Award Aeneum

Mio Path of Water Domus Feriarum victor est Praemii A' Design Award Aeneum, honoris multum aestimati formis egregiis, creandi ingenio, sollertia et acumine insignibus dati. Victores Aenei opera perita et mire creandi sunt, quae experientiam, imaginationem et solertiam auctorum suorum confirmant. Exspectatur Mio Path of Water Domus Feriarum rem multum aestimatam, admiratam et carissimam, notabiliter professionalem et novam fore. Haec forma Aeneo victa optimas consuetudines artis, scientiae, formandi rationis et technologiae amplectitur et in cura minutiarum excellit. Mio Path of Water Domus Feriarum necessitates egregie explet, cupiditates tangit, sensus capit et curiositatem allicit.

Post Designum

Fasciculus Nuntii

Merita, sodales gregis et singula technica a designatore praebita.

Proprietates Singulares: The project is on Yakushima’s maritime edge, where mist, downpour, and slow runoff are daily facts, the house is organized from the rooms outward. Each suite is a calibrated “channel” of water-as-experience: the shared areas stay quiet and supportive. Only after these three acts are set does the living space frame its context: sea at distance, pool nearby—two waters held on one calm line. The primary structure material of the house is steel—precise, slender, and resilient—so the rooms read cleanly. Only the living space departs from that language: here an exposed heavy-timber roof lifts the volume and warms it. The result is a house that makes weather into ambience, routine, and memory.
Dimensiones et Involucrum: Height 9000 mm; Total floor area 298 sqm; construction area (incl. terraces) 586 sqm. Program: L/D, kitchen; 3 bedrooms each with 2× semi-double beds 1,200×1,950 mm + ensuite WC & shower. Spa: changing, sauna, cold plunge, bath, shower + adjacent cooling terrace. Pool depth 1,200 mm. Covered parking 2 bays. Outdoor equipment storage shed 70 sqm.
Notulae: Yakushima, hospitality villa, wet-climate design, rain porch, sauna loop, indoor-outdoor living, charred cedar façade, ocean-view courtyard, modular arcade, minimalist timber architecture
Technologia Productionis: Designed through iterative massing + view studies in Rhino/Grasshopper, then coordinated for constructability and lifecycle cost. Adaptive-reuse strategy uses hybrid structure system of steel and heavy timber to maximize constructability. Facade system: Shou Sugi Ban (Yakisugi) cedar cladding rainscreen + low-iron glazed wall with concealed frames; modular standing seam metal roof for tolerance control. CG/diagrams produced via real-time rendering + AI/PS post-compositing.
Provocatio Designandi: The hardest challenge was reconciling Yakushima’s extreme rain, salt wind, and humidity with an open, resort-like lifestyle without turning the house into a sealed “box.” Internally, the concept had to respect local craft traditions while still feeling contemporary. Externally, strict competition limits (height, area, parking, pool/spa program) forced tight stacking and efficient circulation. Limited site-specific data pushed us to validate decisions through climate mapping, precedent benchmarking, and repeated plan/section tests until performance and experience aligned.
Investigatio: Applied site-response study. Objective: Yakushima villa for rain/humidity, privacy, ocean views. Method: fast plan/section iterations + guest-flow loop tests. Data/tools: climate/topo maps, precedents; Rhino/Grasshopper, AI implemented representation, render checks. Participants: designer + peer critiques. Result: rain-porch entry, bedroom pods, sauna-plunge-bath loop. Insight/impact: fewer conflicts, higher comfort; reusable wet-climate layout template.
Inspiratio: "Mio" is a shallow water channel in Japanese: not a scene, a guide. The project adopts that ethic—draw clear paths and let climate do the rest. What Mio proposes is to let private rooms carry climate as character—morning mist, sudden shower, still flow—while a single timbered hall reads the site without theatrics. The result is a house that makes weather into ambience, routine, and memory.
Duratio Operis: The project was a design package for initiated in September 2025 and completed in February 2026 as a hospitality villa proposal for Yakushima, Kagoshima Prefecture, Japan, and subsequently prepared for submission to the A’ Design Award.
Cursus Operationis: Guests arrive under the covered "porte-cochère" and enter a dry “rain porch” that transitions into the living/dining core facing the ocean. Bedrooms branch off like quiet nests, each with a private bath, so groups can share without stepping on each other’s rhythm. The spa is a simple loop: change - sauna - cold plunge - hot bath/shower - cool-down terrace, repeating as needed. Indoor and outdoor spaces slide into one another, letting the house work in sun, wind, and rain with minimal effort.
Patentes: Copyrights belong to Ke Chen, Mengxi Xu, Jiahua Xu, 2026.
No patents filed.
No trademarks registered.
Membra Turmae: Ke Chen
Mengxi Xu
Jiahua Xu
Agnitiones Imaginum: Image #1: Creator (Design Team Lead) Jiahua Xu, Yakushima Villa Concept (NOT A HOTEL 2026), 2026.
Image #2: Creator (Design Team Lead) Jiahua Xu, Yakushima Villa Concept (NOT A HOTEL 2026), 2026.
Image #3: Creator (Design Team) Ke Chen, Yakushima Villa Concept (NOT A HOTEL 2026), 2026.
Image #4: Creator (Design Team) Mengxi Xu, Yakushima Villa Concept (NOT A HOTEL 2026), 2026.
Image #5: Creator (Design Team) Mengxi Xu, Yakushima Villa Concept (NOT A HOTEL 2026), 2026.