Kengo Kuma designs a shop in Tokyo for Japanese soy sauce company Kayanoya, complete with giant barrels on the ceiling.
30 July, 2014
Kayanoya is an artisanal soy sauce manufacturer with a history that goes back more than 120 years.
In designing the Kayanoya flagship store in Nihonbashi, Tokyo, Kengo Kuma has drawn inspiration from the company’s traditional warehouse in Kyushu, Southern Japan.
Giant wooden barrels, which are used to make shoyu or soya sauce, hang from the ceiling, while Koji Buta, a special tray that is used in the making of koji (malt rice) has been turned into furniture.
Underscoring the importance of community-oriented design, all the cedar materials have been sourced from Kyushu, and the barrels and trays have been produced by local craftspeople.
Kengo Kuma
kkaa.co.jp
A searchable and comprehensive guide for specifying leading products and their suppliers
The internet never sleeps! Here's the stuff you might have missed
It all starts with context and materiality for Japanese architect and designer Keiji Ashizawa of Keiji Ashizawa Design, whose work can be defined by harmonised details through an emphasis on simplicity and curated collaboration.
Interiors have a significant embodied carbon footprint and their churn rate is much greater than base buildings. Dr Caroline Noller of The Footprint Company lays out the situation.