nana’s green tea AEON MALL HANYU
Saitama, Japan / 2011

“Sitting on engawa (Japanese style porch)”

Nanaha Corporation is a company that introduces “a new form of Japan” to the world through “matcha” (powdered green tea). They arrange high grade matchas in modern style and provide them as a menu such as matcha latte. And their intention is to make the space into a “contemporary style tea room”, not a “Japanese style tea room”.

The Japanese character en, which means bond, can also be read fuchi, which means frame.

Therefore, the letter has a double meaning of separating something with a frame and connecting something with a bond (quoted from cha no yu / supervised by omotesenke). This time I used “en” to connect not only the store and the customers but the customers and other customers. What I actually did was to make a bench with laminated woods to resemble engawa. By changing the height of a long bench, the bench becomes a table of the next seat and by changing the height again, it becomes a passage.
As a result, the whole store is designed like a one big engawa and the customers are able to be connected by watching the moon together.

Photos by Keisuke Miyamoto

< PRESS >
Jutaku Interiour Kyukyoku Guide 2017 issue
Kagu kara Hassou suru Kenchiku Keikaku Jul. 2015 Issue
DELICIOUS+FASHION DINNING (China) Aug. 2014 Issue
Shoten Kenchiku Mar. 2012 Issue

< AWARDS >
2012 – The 46th SDA Award – PRIZE WINNER
2012 – DSA Design Award 2012 – PRIZE WINNER