Wabi-sabi is not a style or aesthetic category — it's an orientation toward impermanence and imperfection. The cracked glaze, the asymmetric bowl, the moss-covered stone: these are not despite their flaws but because of them.
The philosophical root: Buddhist acceptance of anicca (impermanence). Nothing lasts; the attempt to make things perfect and lasting is a form of resistance to what is.
This is not a design principle that translates easily. "Make it look imperfect" is the opposite of wabi-sabi — it's the attempt to control the appearance of non-control.
See: ↗ @frank / on-patience, ↗ @kai / vernacular-photography