Schemata Architects and KHA Studio have transformed a space in Tokyo to create a minimal fashion boutique for Mintdesigns entirely visible from the street. Dezeen reports that a large section of the street-facing facade was replaced with a gigantic glass window, allowing passersby a full view of the store, in the Aoyama neighbourhood. “We designed the shop with an extra-large display window so pedestrians can enjoy the brilliant display that changes daily,” says one of the architectural team
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First, interior walls were demolished to open up the space into one single area. Little was done to the existing concrete floors and walls, but the ceiling was painted grey to blend in.
Rows of stark strip lighting suspended from a frame hanging from the ceiling provide the lighting inside the boutique. Also hanging from the frame are two custom-made hanger systems comprising galvanised steel pipes and resin joints.
While these rails display clothing items, a set of wire-mesh shelves is used to store accessories and jewellery.
A fitting room toward the back of the store was created using a sheet of white tarpaulin.
Polish design office Thisispaper Studio used clean white surfaces and simple birch plywood furniture to transform the former dental clinic, while designer Reiichi Ikeda inserted boxy partitions following the pattern of the ceiling trusses.
Schemata Architects was founded in 1998 by Jo Nagasaka, with its projects including a Tokyo rice shop filled with boxy plywood fittings.
* Photography by Kentaro Oshio.
