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Architects
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Location
Honjyou, Saitama, Japan -
Team
Mitsuharu Kojima × Wataru Kobayashi -
Area
114.0 m2 -
Project Year
2012 -
Photographs
Text description provided by the architects. A large expanse of field exists a small distance from this site. The owner and his family grow vegetables there with particular consideration on taste, breed, and cultivation method. The restaurant “Hanafarm Kitchen†was created to provide true lusciousness of vegetables by cooking methods that fully utilize ingredients.
We visited their field and learned about vegetables that were grown carefully by the mingling of hands with soil. These vegetables are further processed and thoughtfully carried by hand to a table where customers await. We focused on their heartwarming “hands†in which they placed their thoughts.
To begin with, “handâ€-like enclosures are made to softly surround customers. Some of them are designed with images of closed fingers and others with images of the openings between fingers. Reddish lights pass through openings just like when a hand is held towards the sun, creating a warm atmosphere. This was how we thought to express their “warmthâ€.
Specifically, five “boxes†are made in the seating area. Each “box†has directionality and space between each other. The middle of the “box†is lifted to “change the expanse†both inside and outside of the space. The “boxes†are louvered to reduce their profile, except for the entrance and counter seats. The neighboring louvers are displaced with different gap intervals. This results in overlapping of various movements of people inside and creates variations in “connection†and “depth†of the space.
In the connected unity of this space, a bustle bubbles up and is softly transmitted to other bustles. While the “loose profile†transmits the bustle, it gradually becomes a space for everyone to become conscious of their own bustle. This enables the creation of a comfortable space, like having lunch under the shade of a forest tree with a stream of sunshine.
