Silver Interior · 2020
Moritomi Japanese Cuisine Japanese Restaurant
- Silver A' Design Award 2020 in Interior
- CLIENT: Moritomi
- Estimated Number of Design Views: 37,178
- Verification code 99CF384BE7 · Verify this award
Colors
About Moritomi Japanese Cuisine Japanese Restaurant
The relocation of Moritomi, a restaurant offering Japanese cuisine, next to the world heritage Himeji Castle explores the relationships between materiality, shape and traditional architectonics interpretation. The new space tries to reproduce the castle stone fortifications pattern in various materials including rough and polished stones, black oxide coated steel, and tatami mats. A floor made in small resin coated gravels represents the castle moat. Two colors, white and black, flows like water from outside, and crossing the wooden lattice decorated entrance door, to the reception hall.
About the Silver A' Design Award
Moritomi Japanese Cuisine Japanese Restaurant is a Silver A' Design Award winner, an extraordinarily prestigious recognition granted to top-of-the-line, gorgeous, and impressive designs. Silver winners are tremendously brilliant and exceedingly creative works that illustrate the outstanding expertise, talent, and acuity of their designers. Moritomi Japanese Cuisine Japanese Restaurant is expected to be a wonderful, showpiece work that is remarkably professional and profoundly innovative. This Silver A' Design Award-winning design is a highly notable, admired invention that benefits and advances the boundaries of art, science, design, and technology. Moritomi Japanese Cuisine Japanese Restaurant is a vastly envied creation that evokes desires, introduces positive feelings, and sparks amazement and wonderment.
Press Kit
- Unique Properties
- Architecture as a practice is deeply related to materiality. But what if we substitute a material by another, in an attempt of keeping its spirit, or temperament?
Offering Japanese cuisine Since 1945, Moritomi is relocating close to the world heritage Himeji Castle. The design for its new space is inspired by the castle stone fortification base and reproduces similar patterns using three different materials: Rough and polished stone, Black oxide coated steel, and Japanese tatami mats. - Dimensions & Packaging
- Gross Built Area: 330sqm
W23800mm x D11805mm x H6954mm - Tags
- Japan, restaurant, material, interpretation, traditional, stone, steel, pattern, tatami, interior
- Production Technology
- The restaurant occupies parts of the first and second level of an already existing mixed-use building constructed using a concrete structure. The interior finishes come in different materials: Stone, Black Oxide Coated Steel, Platina sheets, Tatami Mats, wallpaper, vinyl floor tiles, dark mirrors, and an organic plaster-based material called Joly-pat and resembling traditional Japanese earth walls. This later includes tiny glass beads that sparkles while exposed to light.
- Design Challenge
- The biggest challenge was to find a common spirit of space using different and incoherent materials, but also applying materials outside of their traditional use to create a new atmosphere. Controlling these differences while guaranteeing the balance and keeping the identity of the space was one of the specificities of this space design. Furthermore, keeping the balance between the traditional spirit of the restaurant and the contemporary context added yet another complexity to the project.
- Research
- Stone is more than just a material, and stonework is more than just a craft. Architecture as a practice is deeply related to materiality and the spirit of its spaces is thoroughly defined by the materials in use. But what if we substitute a material by another, in an attempt of keeping its spirit, or temperament? The approach of space at Moritomi new location is a redefinition of the Japanese materiality and design lines inspired by the stonework at Himeji Castle base fortifications.
- Inspiration
- The design for Moritomi Japanese Cuisine new relocation was inspired mainly by its new Neighbor, the 16th century world heritage Himeji Castle. The stone fortifications of the castle were part of the old restaurant, however in a traditional way. The new space needed to step forward and pay tribute to this military masterpiece by imitating their patterns using different contemporary materials and methods. The moat at the fortifications feet also inspired the entrance floor finish.
- Project Duration
- Project start: October 2018.
Construction start: June 2019.
Project/Construction End: September 2019.
Location: Designed and constructed in Himeji City, Japan. - Operation Flow
- The outside of the restaurant is clad in rough and polished stones resembling the Castle fortification and gravel floor reminding the mat water flow crosses the lattice entrance door inviting customers to do similarly. The first floor hosts some tables seating, three small rooms of 4 to 6 people, and a counter seating together with the kitchen. The second level includes a VIP room of 12 seats that can be divided into two rooms. and a larger banquet room that can be divided into four spaces.
- Image Credits
- Image #1: photographer ©Stirling Elmendorf, Moritomi, 2019.
Image #2: photographer ©Stirling Elmendorf, Moritomi, 2019.
Image #3: photographer ©Stirling Elmendorf, Moritomi, 2019.
Image #4: photographer ©Stirling Elmendorf, Moritomi, 2019.
Image #5: photographer ©Stirling Elmendorf, Moritomi, 2019.