Page 79 - AIT0122_E-Paper

Entwurf • Design Schemata Architects, JP-Tokio
Bauherr • Client Less is More Co. Ltd., JP-Osaka
Standort • Location Minamisenba 4-12-8, JP-Osaka
Nutzfläche • Floor space 563 m 2
Fotos • Photos Takumi Ota, JP-Tokio
Mehr Infos auf Seite • More info on page 126

HAIR SALON

IN OSAKA

Washing, cutting, dancing: Hair salons as well are able to
be hybrids as the unobtrusive new design of this branch
of the Japanese LIM haircare label shows. The three let-
ters of the brand founded in Osaka in 1987 stand for
“Less is More” – Schemata Architects followed the well-
known theme of the functionalist modern era and suc-
ceeded in producing more space with just a few means.

S ince 1998, Schemata Architects have made a name for themselves
when it comes to efficient and minimalist renovations of existing
buildings. The breakthrough occurred in 2008 with the refurbishment
of 30 residential units located in Sayama: A radical and cost-effective
intervention where the team around the office founder, architect and
designer Jo Nagasaka, successfully did without everything that was not
absolutely essential. Decisions regarding the plan were made directly
at the object without a prior design process; all the rooms were dis-
mantled to the absolute minimum; walls were not newly covered, floors
not newly installed – because the funds had been lacking for the low-
budget project that was later to achieve a Bauhaus Award. The here al-
ready suggested principle of rejecting construction in favour of decon-
struction and the substantial hesitation as to a personal style in favour
of radical economic efficiency are today the trademark of the interna-
tionally operating Schemata architectural office. These exact qualities
also make the latest project in the lively Osaka shopping district Shin-
saibashi worth showing: It is here that the branch, which has existed
since the 1990s on the first floor of an unspectacular office tower, was
to the refurbished and divided into two independent sections. Separa-
tion connects – and thus the architects in charge had all the existing in-
termediate walls removed and also left the supports and the ceiling
constructions visible. Thanks to a custom-made system of large mirrors
hung on pulleys, the front room section of the LIM salon can now be va-
riably structured or even completely converted into a free multifunctio-
nal area – and, already shortly after the opening, this has turned into a
popular meeting point in the city district for flea markets and parties.
In the back section where the lower-priced Loji hairdresser is located,
industrially manufactured, varnished steel shelves and transparent PVC
curtains serve as partitions. The monochrome furnishing in the rough
building stock with cool surfaces of exposed concrete and metal results
in a casual overall look which suits the ethos of the chain (Less is More)
Grundriss • Floor plan just as well as the programmatic rationalism of Schemata Architects.

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