PROJECT NAME
MOMENT KANDA
– South Exit Location
CATEGORY
BAR
YEAR
2014.07
AREA
Chiyada-ku, Tokyo
OUTLINE
Bar where customers can enjoy “Hibiki” whisky. Everyone from the surprisingly large cask to the lighting is aimed to create a space in which customers feel a sense of the time and effort behind making whisky.
MOMENT KANDA South Exit Location is a bar where customers can enjoy primarily different variations of “Hibiki”, the award winning Japanese whisky brand from Suntory. The most striking feature is the design has to be the extremely large whisky cask used in the construction. For any restaurant or bar, having both a clear message as well as a sense of surprise and humor in the design is critical. This bar can be said to be a prime example of this.
First of all, the design, which is open to the street, utilizing the high ceiling and large floor space as well as the location on the first floor. With pedestrians on the street being able to see the distinctive large whisky casks, the interior design takes things to a completely different scale and adds a sense of connectivity to the street. The use of casks in the design is not only surprising for pedestrians but also clearly conveys the message that the space is a bar designed for enjoying alcohol. The casks are used not only as artistic items but also serve a functional purpose such as being used in the entrance as well as housing the private rooms and washrooms.
While drinking whisky and enjoying the atmosphere created by the casks, customers can also enjoy another important motif of the design: time.
Within the casks, hidden away from the confrontations of work and day-to-day life, customers are free to relax and enjoy their own special time in the bar.
Additionally, on the walls, the lighting also has the motif of time incorporated into the design. The lighting features Old Fashioned glasses used for serving whisky with drops of water falling into them that then cause the ripples to the reflected in the lighting with fiber optic lights and mirrors. This gives customers an increased sense of the passage of time.
Also, aging of the various materials used throughout the design also gives a layered representation of passage of time in the bar.
Within the casks, hidden away from the confrontations of work and day-to-day life, customers are free to relax and enjoy their own special time in the bar.
Additionally, on the walls, the lighting also has the motif of time incorporated into the design. The lighting features Old Fashioned glasses used for serving whisky with drops of water falling into them that then cause the ripples to the reflected in the lighting with fiber optic lights and mirrors. This gives customers an increased sense of the passage of time.
Also, aging of the various materials used throughout the design also gives a layered representation of passage of time in the bar.
For the display shelves on the walls, whisky bottles are prominently featured amongst black leather tiles bathed in amber lighting. This is meant to subtly remind the customers how much time and effort went into the whisky that they’re drinking. It’s little things like this that add to the whisky drinking experience.
This understanding of the time and effort required also brings about an appreciation of the importance of craftsmanship. With these feelings and with glass in hand, before you know it, your sense of time has slowly changed and you’re taken out of the drag of day-to-day life.
This understanding of the time and effort required also brings about an appreciation of the importance of craftsmanship. With these feelings and with glass in hand, before you know it, your sense of time has slowly changed and you’re taken out of the drag of day-to-day life.
text by salta
