Located in a local area of Tokyo, this experimental art space is a project by three young Japanese artists who have just graduated.
The space is a coexistence of a contemporary art gallery, which is scheduled for about ten exhibitions a year, and a diner that provides daily meals. This seemingly curious combination of gallery and diner was derived from the artist's own history and experience.
Process
They raised the most of their funds through crowdfunding and even made up for the lack of funds by doing the finishing part of the construction themselves. This process made the project more of a collaboration between artist and architect than a normal client-designer relationship, resulting in a number of unexpected material choices and details that characterize the project.
Spatial composition
The composition is quite simple. The gallery is in the front half facing the small street, and the kitchen is in the backside, linked by a counter.
In the gallery area, minimalistic fluorescent lights illuminate a space between two white walls. The margin above the counter would also have the potential to be a display wall.
When customers are enjoying their meal, they can sit with their backs to the gallery, not worrying about the street side's gaze, and focus on communicating with the owner and the food.
Detail and atmosphere
The height of the wall above the counter was carefully chosen to control the view from the outside. Lighting is installed inside the wall, and agricultural fabrics diffuse the light so that a soft light illuminates the food and the hand.
For the counter, they purchased an old wood at a low price from an lumber store with a long history in the neighborhood and incorporated it into the space while embracing the natural shape of the wood.
For the gallery side lighting fixtures, we disassembled the existing general lighting fixtures, adding the necessary pieces of metal, and reassembled them to create simple and endearing lighting at a low cost.
In addition to these gentle analog details, the atmosphere created by each element, such as wild flowers picked in the neighborhood, hand-written menu charts made daily, handmade shelves, their local cuisine, and works by artists selected from an international perspective, gives a sense of sensitivity, generosity, and openness.
Design and art as an attitude
We believe that the act of raising funds through the new system of crowdfunding and creating a social position on the theme of art and food, while mixing local and international aspects, is itself an indication of the direction of design and art in the future.
