Silver Interior Space and Exhibition Design · 2024
Oita Soho Modern Japanese Restaurant
- A' Design Award 2024 Silver Winner in Interior Space and Exhibition Design
- Awarded April 15, 2024
- CLIENT: Muzo
- Estimated Number of Design Views: 23,514
- Verification code 0574143095 · Verify this award
About Oita Soho Modern Japanese Restaurant
Oita Soho was designed to create a sophisticated, relaxing space with Japanese influences and carrying some of the identity established in Oita’s first restaurant, informal and verdant with plants throughout. The space required more than the conventional approaches of minimalistic modern Japanese design to deliver a distinct, remarkable experience that is a synthesis of aesthetic and cultural elements. The work was inspired by the Tanizaki essay "In Praise of Shadows" which discusses the use, meaning and aesthetics of darkness and shadows in Japanese art, design and architecture.
The thoughtful synthesis of Eastern and Western design vocabularies evident in Mika Kanayama's Oita Soho Modern Japanese Restaurant demonstrates sophisticated material literacy and atmospheric calibration characteristic of contemporary hospitality design at its most accomplished. The designer has orchestrated a careful dialogue between industrial heritage elements, visible in the exposed ceiling systems and factory-style windows, and refined natural materials that speak to Japanese aesthetic principles of material authenticity and reverence for organic forms. The live-edge dining tables celebrate the inherent beauty of wood grain and natural edge irregularity, a philosophy resonant with wabi-sabi appreciation for imperfection and the handmade. Wishbone chairs, themselves icons of mid-century Scandinavian design by Hans Wegner, introduce a cultural bridge between Northern European craft traditions and Japanese joinery sensibilities, their flowing lines and woven seats embodying the organic modernism that has proven so compatible with Japanese spatial concepts. The chromatic strategy employs a sophisticated warm-neutral palette anchored by the enveloping dark walls that create theatrical intimacy while allowing the honey-toned woods and cognac leathers to glow with warm luminosity. Strategic introduction of living plants transforms the space from mere dining room into inhabitable garden, honoring the Japanese concept of bringing nature indoors. The circular mirror functions both as practical space-expander and subtle cultural reference to the moon gate, that architectural threshold between realms found in traditional gardens. Viewers might contemplate how this synthesis of influences creates a distinctly contemporary expression that nonetheless honors multiple craft traditions and cultural values regarding hospitality, nature, and material truth.
Press Kit
- Unique Properties
- It was designed to create a sophisticated, relaxing space with Japanese influences, and carrying some of the identity established in Oita's first restaurant, informal and verdant with plants throughout the space. The space required more than the conventional approaches of minimalistic modern Japanese design to deliver a distinct, remarkable experience that is a synthesis of aesthetic and cultural elements.
The space required more than the conventional approaches of minimalistic modern Japanese design, to deliver a distinct, remarkable experience that is a synthesis of aesthetic and cultural elements.Backlit paper parasols are placed overlapping in a flowing pattern that follows the stairs creating a feature wall to surprise and delight leading visitors to the upper level. The warm light of the parasols is accentuated in the dark. Lighting is careful and muted throughout relying on position and shades. Two mirrors placed parallel in opposite directions reflect the lights infinitely in their depths, adding to the glow and mystery of the space. - Dimensions & Packaging
- The area of project is
Ground Floor - 67sqm
First Floor - 69sqm - Tags
- Japanese restaurant design, muzo, Oita, interior design, restaurant design, Japanese design, chinatown
- Production Technology
- Grade II Listed Building
Material: Fire retardant timber & veneered oak MDF throughout. - Design Challenge
- As it was a Grade II listed building, the history of the premises was researched in depth prior to work. Great consideration was given at design stage and fit-out work was carried out carefully. Any finishes that needed repairing was matched to the original finish.
- Project Duration
- The project was completed in January 2023 in London.
- Operation Flow
- Backlit paper parasols are placed overlapping in a flowing pattern that follows the stairs creating a feature wall to surprise and delight leading visitors to the upper level. The warm light of the parasols is accentuated in the dark.
Lighting is careful and muted throughout relying on position and shades.
Two mirrors placed parallel in opposite directions reflect the lights infinitely in their depths, adding to the glow and mystery of the space. - Research
- The space is abundant with plants and botanical imagery bringing a sense of exotic night garden or conservatory. Artworks by Imao Keinen featuring birds in seasonal settings with plants and flowers feature throughout, furthering the theme, Keinen’s masterful use of colours is utilised to play with the décor palette introducing flashes of bright colour that are echoed elsewhere, harmonising with the greenery and midnight shades to effect a unique, spectral contrast. The effect has almost the feeling of Japanese lacquerware artwork made real where living forms are presented luminously against the deep dark of lacquer surfaces.
- Inspiration
- The work was inspired by the Tanizaki essay 'In Praise of Shadows' which discusses the use, meaning and aesthetics of darkness and shadows in Japanese art, design and architecture.
- Image Credits
- Image #1: Photographer Sara Hibbert
Image #2: Photographer Sara Hibbert
Image #3: Photographer Sara Hibbert
Image #4: Photographer Sara Hibbert
Image #5: Photographer Sara Hibbert - Patents
- Copyrights belong to Muzo, 2023
Colors of Oita Soho Modern Japanese Restaurant
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