Japan House London celebrates the Asian nation’s cultural offerings
In Bernard George’s Grade II listed, Art Deco building on Kensington High Street, a new £15m cultural and retail centre trumpets Japan’s ability to craft both function and beauty. Japan House London follows outposts in Los Angeles and São Paulo, each designed under the guidance of chief creative director Kenya Hara (of Muji fame). Set up by the Government of Japan, they represent soft diplomacy at its most aspirational.
Japan House stocks items that Londoners would be hard pushed to find elsewhere. Goodies include bent cedar bento boxes, aesthetically pleasing picnic-ware made from sugar cane fibre, antique lacquered trays, and stylish nail-clippers. The plan is to have personalised narratives written up about each product, says director Michael Houlihan, director general of JHL. ‘We are as much telling stories as we are selling products.’
On the 800 sq m ground floor there is also a teaser of the exhibition below, ‘Sou Fujimoto: Futures of the Future’. The architect, who designed the 2013 Serpentine Pavilion, displays delicate models of his work on slim plinths, alongside blown-up photos and images on the walls.
Connecting the floors is a new spiral staircase – made in Japan and brought over in pieces – and a spherical glass lift. The basement is home to a library and event space. Like the ground floor these are both exercises in a quiet aesthetic created by Japanese firm Wonderwall, designers of Uniqlo’s London flagship. While these two floors feature white walls and glazing, Wonderwall’s design for the first-floor restaurant, Akira, is warmer, with a black slatted ceiling, a black patterned screen and wooden chairs and tables from Japan.
INFORMATION
For more information visit the Japan House website
Wallpaper* Newsletter
Receive our daily digest of inspiration, escapism and design stories from around the world direct to your inbox
-
The Brazilian Forest House injects art into a modernist-inspired, contemporary design
The Brazilian Forest House, designed in upstate São Paulo by FGMF, brings together nature and art
By Ellie Stathaki Published
-
Waiting room inspo: Inside Studioutte’s cinematic Sala D’Attesa at Milan Design Week
Studioutte’s Sala D’Attesa, staged in Nolo during Milan Design Week 2024, was a scenographic interior merging different design sensibilities
By Laura May Todd Published
-
Bang & Olufsen’s Recreated Classics series continues with a CD player revival
Bang & Olufsen’s Beosystem 9000c music system brings the original digital compact disc format back to life and pairs it with the latest in speaker design
By Jonathan Bell 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
-
Toranomon Hills Station by OMA adds dynamism to the Tokyo skyline
Toranomon Hills Station is OMA's first tower in Tokyo - as well as a project expanding and evolving the high rise typology
By Danielle Demetriou Published