Nendo, a design firm, opened a coffee shop in Tokyo. Japanese Design concept Cafe

Image Source: Network

For those of you who love Japanese design, architecture and coffee, this story is fantastic. Japanese architect Kenzo Tange designed a mansion called Sogetsu Kaikanhas in the 1970s that included a rock courtyard designed by sculptor Isamu Noguchi.

Today, Nendo, a famous Japanese design firm, has its office here and opened a cafe. Two generations of design masters, old and new, are thus linked by coffee.

The cafe, called Connel Cafe, is located on the second floor of the Sogetsu Kaikanhas Building in Akasaka, Tokyo, Japan. Originally built for the Sogetsu Ikebana School, the building is across the street from the Crown Prince's residence and looks out onto the scenic Korekiyo Takahashi Memorial Park.

Cornell Cafe's name comes from the Japanese word koneru, meaning "blend" or "shape." The name also neatly echoes the firm's name "Nendo"(meaning clay in Japanese).

Cornell Cafe's logo and brand image was also designed by Nendo and consists of the letter "n" and two "c" letters in "Nendo."

I really like this stir bar, it's designed to look like a stamp, coffee is its "ink pad".

Coffee cup handles are handmade and have different shapes.

Nendo calls the Sogetsu Kaikanhas building "one of the pioneers of modern Japanese architecture." Inside the building, you can follow in the footsteps of the master to the office where he worked before his death in 2005. The office is on the tenth floor of the building. Although Cornell Cafe is open to the public, the Master's office is not yet open to the public.

In order to preserve the original design of the building as much as possible, Nendo did not change the walls and ceilings when renovating it, only redesigning the floors and furniture. "We made the top of the counter bright black to match the gray mirror design of the ceiling." Nendo said. Among them, tulip tables and chairs designed by Ariel Saarinen have also been restored.

Isamu Noguchi's rock courtyard is opposite the cafe

Kusatsuki Ikebana School and its sister organization Kusatsuki Art Center (SAC) have a very important position in the Japanese art world and are the forefront of Japanese art development in the 1960s. Art historian Miki Kaneda wrote on his blog:

Artists, musicians, designers, critics, writers and performers gather at the Kusatsuki Art Center to try new artistic practices and discuss new directions for artistic development. Caoyue Arts Center not only has a performance hall where performances and movies are regularly held, but also has its own art publication. Artists can enjoy cross-disciplinary collaboration and exchange here, which is difficult to achieve in traditional museums, concert halls or other academic venues.

In Japan, the first recorded visual arts performance took place at the Kusatsuki Art Center in late 1961 at an Ichiyanagi concert called "happening." John Cage, Tasha Tudor and Imogen Cunningham all came to Japan for the first time at the Kusatsuki Art Center's invitation.

Source: Interface

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