Cartier’s Japanese headquarters: a harmonious brand interpretation
Tokyo-based studio I IN designs Cartier’s brand new Japanese headquarters
Cartier’s freshly refurbished Japanese headquarters in Tokyo’s Hanzomon quarter are not just an elegant, understated head-turner, the project is also a quiet case study in how a marque’s visual identity can be effectively channelled into something so quotidian as an office space.
For Tokyo-based studio I IN, the specific challenge was to create a setting that enabled Cartier’s staff to feel and touch the brand’s identity on a subliminal level. ‘How could we bring the essence of luxury with which Cartier is associated into its working space?’ asked the studio’s founders, Yohei Terui and Hiromu Yuyama. The solution was to deploy a judicious mix of colour, specially commissioned textiles, and lighting – both natural and artificial – within the open-plan space.
Red, a colour long associated with Cartier, appears in strategic locations – in the plush circular sofa in the foyer, sheathed in Kvadrat fabric; in the raised tatami-matted platform whose piping was created by Kyoto-based artisans Hosoo; and as accents in the staff locker room. Champagne gold, another Cartier hallmark, shows up in vertical floor-to-ceiling louvre panels; plush carpets woven by Yamagata Dantsu, one of Japan’s oldest carpet suppliers; bijoux table stands; abstract chandeliers and wall art; and even in the metal strips in an oversized central work desk.
On every metric, the mood board is resolutely luxurious, not least a harmonious interpretation of a French brand that’s overlaid with a quiet Japanese presence. And with bracing forested views of the Imperial Palace’s gardens, to boot.
This is no mean feat. As Terui and Yuyama point out, office spaces tend to be very functional with limited scope to express a brand’s identity. But as the pair’s work on Cartier’s Japanese headquarters shows, an imaginatively conceived office can also allow its staff ‘to feel and touch the brand’s identity every day on a deeper level’.
INFORMATION
Wallpaper* Newsletter
Receive our daily digest of inspiration, escapism and design stories from around the world direct to your inbox
Daven Wu is the Singapore Editor at Wallpaper*. A former corporate lawyer, he has been covering Singapore and the neighbouring South-East Asian region since 1999, writing extensively about architecture, design, and travel for both the magazine and website. He is also the City Editor for the Phaidon Wallpaper* City Guide to Singapore.
-
John Cage’s ‘now moments’ inspire Lismore Castle Arts’ group show
Lismore Castle Arts’ ‘Each now, is the time, the space’ takes its title from John Cage, and sees four artists embrace the moment through sculpture and found objects
By Amah-Rose Abrams Published
-
Architects collaborate on geometric extension to radically re-shape a London house
Mediterranean influences, earthy tones and quirky angles abound in this geometric extension and the soaring living spaces of this reconfigured Victorian townhouse
By Jonathan Bell Published
-
‘What a Fantastic Machine’: new film explores the camera, pop culture and human behaviour
Maximilien Van Aertryck and Axel Danielson’s new film, ‘And the King Said, What a Fantastic Machine’, dissects the role of the camera in popular culture
By Zoe Whitfield Published
-
Space Un celebrates contemporary African art, community and connection in Japan
Space Un, a new art venue by Edna Dumas, dedicated to contemporary African art, opens in Tokyo, Japan
By Nana Ama Owusu-Ansah Published
-
Monospinal is a Japanese gaming company’s HQ inspired by its product’s world
A Japanese design studio fulfils its quest to take Monospinal, the Tokyo HQ of a video game developer, to the next level
By Ellie Stathaki Published
-
Modern Japanese houses inspiring minimalism and avant-garde living
We tour the best Japanese architecture and modern Japanese houses designed by international and local architects that open up possibilities for all types of lifestyle, from minimalist to communal in Japanese architecture.
By Ellie Stathaki Published
-
An Aoyama House exemplifies a synergetic architect and client relationship
A client’s faith in his architect pays dividends in Aoyama House; a light-filled, effortlessly elegant Tokyo home
By Jens H Jensen Published
-
Tokyo home Le49Ⅱ brings together drama, domestic luxury and hybrid working habits
Le49Ⅱ by Japanese architects Apollo is a Tokyo home for a young family with hybrid working habits
By Ellie Stathaki Published
-
Takeshi Ikeuchi’s kei truck is a minimalist Japanese mobile showroom
Takeshi Ikeuchi's kei truck design is a Japanese timber specialist’s minimalist mobile showroom
By Jens H Jensen Published
-
Nekoyacho Bldg is a Hiroshima office on a crossroads of 'food, work and entertainment'
Nekoyacho Bldg has been designed by Suppose Design Office as a 21st century workspace in Hiroshima, Japan
By Danielle Demetriou Published
-
Heatherwick Studio’s Azabudai Hills district launches as Tokyo’s newest city-in-a-city
Tokyo welcomes the Azabudai Hills district, designed by Heatherwick Studio and constructed as a city-in-a-city after over three decades of planning
By Danielle Demetriou Published