繭庵 — Mayu-an, the cocoon hermitage. The name comes from a phrase in Kamo no Chomei's Hojoki: 老いたる蚕の繭をいとなむがごとし — an old silkworm spinning his last cocoon. The client, a writer approaching retirement, had read the book and felt the pull of its central question: what does a person truly need?

The structure is modelled on the Hōjōan, Chōmei's ten-foot hermitage, set beside a quiet pond in the Burgundy countryside. Nine square metres, built by hand using sukiya woodworking techniques. It is a retreat for writing, for tea, and for the kind of silence that a small, well-made room can hold.