Nendo’s idea for the external structure is refined but simple, involving boxes of different sizes and heights, staggered and stacked in a harmonious way. Fashion, design, art and food converge smoothly across the levels of the building created for the Onward apparel brand. The cafe in the semi-basement is connected to the ground floor, where a gallery and a lounge area can be used for events and exhibitions. The second and third levels are for fashion and design. On the fourth floor, a restaurant for 65 place settings also offers access to the small bar placed on the upper level of the building, which replicates the gentle slope of a hill.
A work of architecture that blends with the outer landscape thanks to the large glazings of the facades and the roofs of the individual boxes, which become terraces for the upper levels. Thus ‘inside’ and ‘outside’ are connected in an ongoing game of overlaps, the true leitmotif of the whole project.
The interiors also emphasize this idea thanks to the mixture of materials, colors and patterns used in the various areas of the complex. On every level, the Tape seats by Minotti provide light silhouettes, full of personality. The name is a tribute on Nendo’s part to the sartorial expertise of Minotti and refers to couture detailing, like a piece of tape capable of holding the metal feet with a pale bronze color.
In the bar facing the street, customers can relax on armchairs with shells in Nuvola leather, amidst the soft lines of pale green Alcantara cushions, or in the enveloping gray bergères with shell in Lodge leather and cushions in Norton fabric. In the lounge, the details of the metal feet placed outside the structure of the chairs (seen here without armrests) establish a dialogue with the light signs of the handrail and the lamps. The colors chosen for the armchairs on the third floor combine with the pale hue of the marble floor with its stone texture.
The atmosphere of the restaurant is soft, thanks to diffused lighting and warm floors that combine wood with stone, materials also used to cover the walls. Here too we find the Tape chairs by Nendo, facing small round tables with stone tops that echo the dark stripes of the floor.
Collaborators:onndo (interior design) / hand (graphic design) / rcd, syk (furniture) /
Izumi Okayasu (lighting) / Kayoko Nagahama (plantings)
Photographer: Daici Ano, Takumi Ota, Akihiro Yoshida