|

MUJI Designs a Micro-House and DIYs the Objects to Fill It

ByMyProperty Life

In a world that moves fast (and only seems to be speeding up), MUJI’s latest project feels like a deep breath. At Milan Design Week 2025, the brand teamed up with Studio 5∙5 to debut MUJI MUJI 5∙5 a modular micro-architecture house and a suite of clever DIY creations, all crafted from everyday MUJI products. Together, they created a blueprint for a downshifted life – one that favors calm, creativity, and a little less stuff.

A small modern wooden tiny house with a covered porch, large windows, and an attached vertical garden, situated on a cobblestone courtyard

Designed with Japan’s tradition of modest, modular living in mind, the micro Manifesto House embraces flexibility, sustainability, and calm. Built from prefabricated modules, it can be configured to the perfect size, from a one-person retreat to a family weekend getaway. Eco-conscious touches, like recycled textiles for insulation, a white roof that reduces heat absorption and collects rainwater, and a raised structure with an open upper section for passive cooling, ensure the home treads lightly – and thoughtfully – on its environment.

Read another article:Design Trends for Creating a Vacation Vibe at Home

A small, modern, white tiny house with glass doors, plants growing on vertical trellises, and wooden steps, situated on a cobblestone courtyard. A woman stands nearby

A small modern wooden tiny house with plants growing on the exterior, set in a stone courtyard; a woman stands on the front steps, and a bicycle is parked beside the house.

A modern greenhouse structure with glass walls, wooden frame, and plants growing on shelves, situated in a cobblestone courtyard near historical buildings

Read another article:Hot Trends: 20 Best Farmhouse Style Kitchens in White and Wood

The Manifesto House unfolds across six flexible modules, each designed with simplicity and purpose.

A series of modular wooden and metal room units displayed in a row, illustrating different interior functions and a vertical garden structure at the end

A small wooden shed with open doors, a metal panel, and planters with green plants, set on a gravel surface under leafy trees

The Genkan marks the entrance, with a bench that doubles as shoe storage – a must in Japan, where it’s customary to remove your shoes before entering – and a coat rack crafted from repurposed bottles. The Ofuro module, dedicated to hygiene and well-being, features a reinterpreted Shoji sliding partition and a traditional Japanese soaking bath.

A small, modern wooden structure with large glass windows stands among trees; a bicycle with a basket is parked nearby

Ofuro module

A modern kitchen corner with a white sink, faucet, black tiled backsplash, and various kitchen utensils hanging on a wall grid

Daidokoro module

Plastic containers filled with various dried spices, herbs, and grains are neatly organized on shelves, each labeled with handwritten tags

Daidokoro module

In the Daidokoro kitchen, a full wall of MUJI containers celebrates fermentation and long-term food preservation. A Kintsugi workshop encourages creativity and making, anchored by a mobile workbench that doubles as a desk, work surface, or dining table.

A modern, minimalist room with wooden furniture, frosted panel windows, shelves with jars, a trash bin, and soft overhead lighting

Kintsugi module

A small wooden reading nook with a bench, open book, shelves holding books and stationery, and a window showing greenery outside

Tatami module

The Tatami module offers a foldable sleeping area that maximizes every square inch. And outside, a Niwa garden nods to Japan’s courtyard gardens, offering a place to grow food, meditate, or simply stay still.

A small modern shed with wooden walls, a metal door, potted plants on shelves, steps, and an outdoor water feature with a white spout and bucket in a garden setting

Niwa module at left

Hollow shelf, made from bamboo boxes

In the spirit of doing more with less, MUJI and Studio 5∙5 also introduced MUJI MUJI 5∙5, a collection of DIY creations that transform existing products into new objects for daily living. With just a few tweaks, familiar MUJI products turn into entirely new creations: a birdhouse built from a bookend and drawer, a hollow shelf fashioned from bamboo boxes, even a gong made from a measuring bowl and coffee spoon.

A two-tiered plastic storage bin with wooden support, holding bottles in the lower bin and a glass on the upper tray, placed next to glassware and bowls on shelves

Tray cart, made from a pinewood board, wood tray, and storage box

Frosted box-shaped light fixture with an exposed bulb hangs by a window, with hooks and a white bath pouf attached below. Green trees are visible outside

Box lamp, made from a storage box, cable, socket, and LED bulb

Kitchen utensils including a strainer, scissors, ladle, and sponge hang from hooks on a metal grid ceiling organizer near a window

Gong bowl, made from a measuring bowl, coffee spoon, suction cups, and aluminum hooks

More than a showcase of clever design, the Manifesto House and MUJI MUJI collection embody a shared belief between MUJI and Studio 5∙5: that true living isn’t about accumulating more, but about choosing well. Every object, every space, is a quiet affirmation of shaping a life with intention – focusing on what is essential, what is versatile, and what will truly endure. It’s proof that intentional design – and a little DIY creativity – can go a long way.

Outdoor wall with a wooden panel, grid section holding cleaning tools, a window with shelves visible inside, and plants in the foreground

A wooden soaking tub and two bottles are inside a glass-walled structure with outdoor trees and sunlight visible through the windows

A small modern prefab structure with wood and glass panels sits on a stone courtyard, with a bike parked outside and vertical planters on one side

A modern, small modular building with large windows and a mix of wood and metal panels stands on an elevated foundation in a courtyard

A modern, small glass-walled structure with a flat roof stands on a cobblestone courtyard, adjacent to a historic stone building

A modern tiny house with wood and metal exterior, glass doors, small porch, plants, and steps, situated in a stone courtyard beside an old building

A woman stands and a man sits on wooden steps outside a building, both looking at the camera in natural daylight

Claire Renard and Jean-Sébastien Blanc, co-founders of Studio 5∙5

Want to learn how to DIY your own MUJI MUJI 5∙5 object from the collection? Visit muji.eu where you can get detailed illustrations, instructions, and learn more about the Manifesto House by MUJI x Studio 5∙5.

As the Senior Contributing Editor, Vy Yang is obsessed with discovering ways to live well + with intention through design. She’s probably sharing what she finds over on Instagram stories. You can also find her at vytranyang.com.

Similar Posts

  • Spring Road Residence

    This 7,000 sf house is nestled on a heavily wooded hilltop site in Ross, CA with breathtaking views of Mt. Tam and the San Francisco Bay over native California Oaks in one direction and the town of Ross through majestic old-growth redwoods in the other. The parti is a composition of simple volumes that maximizes a sense of openness to these views while maintaining privacy from neighbors and creating distinct zones within the property. Materials were carefully selected to strike a balance between a precise modernist language and the woodsy pastoral sensibility of this Northern California site. The volumes are clad in a terracotta rainscreen with rheinzink fascias. Custom aluminum doors and windows have extremely minimal sightlines. The landscape design was carefully considered to create different outdoor experiences to enhance the house. The floating master suite volume pushes out over the main living volume towards the canyon and views. The main dining kitchen area opens up to a lush lawn while the main living space steps down from a concrete plinth onto a wood floor that extends outdoors to a wood deck and anchored by a linear fire element. Guest rooms face the concrete terrace and look out over the mirror surface of an infinity edge lap pool hovering two inches above deck level. A fountain conceived as an 18″-high monolithic volume of water is visible from the entry and doubles as a spa. A home theater is located in the basement and a separate volume houses a gym area with a spa and an office for the owner’s business and his employees complete with its own private deck.

  • Extensively Remodeled Texas Ranch House from the 60’s Offers a Relaxing Refuge

    Giving the old home a new lease of life while preserving its existing, vernacular charm is a task that demands careful balance of elements. Originally built in 1965, this ranch house in Johnson City, Texas was recently given a fresh, modern look by Mark Ashby Design while ensuring that its original ‘ranch style’ remained largely […]

    You’re reading Extensively Remodeled Texas Ranch House from the 60’s Offers a Relaxing Refuge, originally posted on Decoist. If you enjoyed this post, be sure to follow Decoist on Twitter, Facebook and Pinterest.