nana’s green tea MOZO WONDERCITY
Aichi, Japan / 2018

“Rainbow Windows”

Nanaha Co., Ltd. is a company that sends the “new form of Japan” to the world through “mattcha”. They provide high quality mattcha in menus that are arranged modernly, such as mattacha latte. The space inside the shop is desired to be a “modern tearoom”, not a “Japanese style tea room”. According to the owner, it is a way of expressing their feeling to make a shop that allows the customers to enjoy the traditional Japanese culture with a modern interpretation.

Base of the clay wall, materials like wood strips or bamboo are formed into grids using the technique of “Komai” (lathing technique in Japan) that is similar to knitting strings and ropes. “Komai” improves the density while giving strength to the materials, allowing the opening of apertures and windows.

A part of the clay wall remains unpainted, with the underlying structure of the grids visible through windows. These windows are called “The underlying window” which was first started by Rikyū.

In Aichi Province, there is a tea room “Joan” classified as National treasure, which is built in 1618 by Oda Nagamasu. In this tea room, there are windows called “Rainbow Windows”, which reflect shadows of diverse colors from the open ground outside on the papers covering them, according to the variation of sunlight due to time, weather, and seasons.

Therefore, Nana’s Green Tea MOZO WONDERCITY experiments with the modern “Rainbow Window” in the space. In detail, the design uses the hologram technology to control the reflection of light, with the colorful light changing according to angles and perspectives. This technology is combined into the “Koumai” bracing structure, and due to the change of density, it becomes walls or windows, which creates spatial configurations.

Designed by Masahiro Yoshida and Tae Fukami
Photos by Keisuke Miyamoto