A Japanese food-themed retail concept in New York draws on natural materials

50 Norman is a new space in Brooklyn, New York, uniting hospitality with retail in a Japanese food-themed complex. Located on Brooklyn’s Norman Avenue, 50 Norman consists of Japanese-French restaurant House Brooklyn; Cibone, featuring Japanese ceramics and cooking utensils; and Okume, a seafood processing store originally established in 1871 on the Tsukiji fish market. 

50 Norman, Brooklyn, by Schemata Architects

'For us, this overseas store project was an away game, but we sought to uphold the quality of a home game,’ say the Schemata Architects team on the challenges of bringing the project to New York. ‘We had struggled to achieve what we could in Japan with our overseas projects for a long time without much success. We, at one time, thought of attempting a more simplified, easy-to-understand design that would work anywhere, rather than pursuing a Japanese quality. 

'On the other hand, we looked for a way to maintain the quality we can achieve in Japan, rather than adapting our design to the locality. For this reason, we had to think about production methods to minimise costs and maintain quality. Then, we came up with “Dekasegi”, an idea to process materials that would otherwise be dismantled and discarded in Japan, reduce their volume as much as possible, ship them, and then bring several craftsmen to the site to assemble and process them locally in a short time.’ A group of craftsmen called TANK was enlisted to create furniture for 50 Norman from discarded wood, disassemble it for shipping, and then reassemble the furniture in New York.

The project marks the first Dekasegi project for Schemata Architects, who were eventually forced to send the components over to New York by air after the Covid crisis lengthened shipping times. ‘We decided to send them by air using as little volume as possible by building crates and packing the components tightly inside them,’ they explain. ‘The idea was to use the crates as display stands for the stores and to use FRP, a resin that can be locally procured and manufactured by TANK's artisan team yet can be adapted to the American scale.’ 

After air costs escalated, the crates were disregarded for packing purposes in favour of breaking components into smaller pieces to make best use of the aeroplane's space. Having already been made, the crates too were dismantled and sent to New York in pieces.

The result encompasses natural materials and light for a space ideal for entertaining, hospitality and function. ‘Used and aged wood materials in Japan often retain their original craftsmanship, joints, and other features that give them a distinctive appearance. Our design sought to make the best use of such characteristics,’ say the team.

50 Norman Ave, Brooklyn, NY 11222

50norman.com
schemata.jp