SGC
Tokyo, Japan / 2018

“Japanese and Western”

SGC has a smelting factory that produces high-purity gold, and has a system that handles gold consistently, from the production of products by gold technicians, the sale at stores and exhibitions, to the purchase of precious metals by customers. It is a gold company that handles everything.
This time, we are moving and renovating Shinjuku Takashimaya, which has many stores.

It is said that gold appeared in the history of Japan in the 8th century, and the fact that gold was confirmed in present-day Miyagi Prefecture is described in the “Sequel to Japan”, and gold leaf was also used for the Great Buddha at Todaiji Temple. It was being appreciated.
And according to Marco Polo’s “Mind to the East,” Japan was a golden country.
Beginning in the world’s 3000s BC, gold has been considered the most valuable metal in many times and regions.
It is also the oldest metal used by mankind as an ornament, and is often used in arts and crafts as well, and has been regarded as a symbol of purity, value and privileged class.
This is largely because, compared to other metals, gold did not lose its basic essence over time and was excellent in the property of preserving value.

In this way, gold has a long history in every country, and each country has a different image and attachment to gold.

So, the store to be built is neither Japanese nor Western, but I wondered if I could give it a familiar design.

Actually, by providing a “Japanese” space consisting of Japanese paper, a lattice, and Shiraki, a “Japanese and Western eclectic space” consisting of Japanese paper, molding, and wood, and a “Western” space consisting of painting, molding, and old materials Designed a space that is neutral to the people of.

I hope people visiting SGC Shinjuku Takashimaya will feel nostalgic.

Designed by Masahiro Yoshida, Tae Fukami and Kyosuke Maeda
Photos by Keisuke Miyamoto