About half a year after the completion of their first store in Marunouchi, Pass The Baton has opened a 2nd location in Omotesando. And once again they have enlisted the creatives at Wonderwall to pull together an eclectic design aesthetic that complements the overarching theme of the store.

If you will recall, Pass The Baton is a new concept shop that encourages people to embrace the used and the old. But the latest reworking of this vintage shop includes a gallery space as well as a special showcasing of items – demarcated by the pink walls – selected by fashion designer NIGO (A Bathing Ape).

Also included in the store is  a “pass counter” where customers can literally pass the baton. Just make a reservation and show up with your beloved goods to have them appraised and then displayed. Profits are split 50/50 between the customer and the store.

I love how they brought back their signature cup chandelier. In the previous iteration they used what looked like whiskey glasses. But this time they opted for coffee cups.

Related:

• Pass The Baton (Marunouchi) by Wonderwall
• Wonderwall’s new website

Over the summer Tokushu Tokai Holdings changed their name to Tokushi Tokai Paper. And to commemorate the event the specialty paper company enlisted Hiromura Design Office to give their headquarters a facelift.

I think it’s fantastic, and is exactly what a paper company needs. It has elements of technology, modernism,  organization, and, most importantly, it just really looks like they know (the capabilities of) their product.

In case you were curious, the Masaaki Hiromura (of Hiromura Design Office) is the mastermind behind the signage campaign for the highly acclaimed 9hr Hotel.

I know…another artist rendering. But I would love to see this conceptual storage system come to fruition! Designed by Kenma, Makimono (PDF) – literally, “scroll” – allows the user to customize the display system to virtually any layout.

The concept came in 3rd place this year at the Okamura Visplay Design Competition. I spy some of their osusowake planters sitting on the top left shelf.

Nice illustration too!

Yasumichi Morita of interior design firm Glamorous recently completed the newest FrancFranc shop (which I have compared to Crate & Barrel in the past) in the upscale Aoyama area of Tokyo. I made a couple purchases here during my trip to Japan, which I will share at a later time.

Also in the past I have had mixed feelings for Morita’s work, which straddles a delicate balance between classy and corny, but this time around I have only good things to say about the awesome space.

And yet again, in the past, Yasumichi Morita appeared on this site previously with rapper verbal in a photo shoot for Louis Vuitton. And coincidentally, both showed up at the opening party in May – the latter being a surprise guest DJ for the event.

The new flagship store, which, for its vast scale, is also known as FrancFranc Village, will include several in-shop collaborations such as the very first Monocle shop in Japan.

Case-Real Architects, headed by Koichi Futatsumata, unveiled a new bar they designed in Fukuoka. Dreieck Park, which is Triangular Park in German, gets its name from its strategic location on the top floor of a building, overlooking a lone park situated in the middle of a busy shopping district. The bar is characterized by an incredibly sexy table that swells out into the center of the bar.

The pendant lights were designed to sit above a specified horizon so as to not obstruct views of the central window. The armchairs were also specifically designed for long drinks (and maybe even some pour-your-heart-out-moments with the bartender. The cool thing about the table is, depending on where you sit, you can either feel very intimate or very distanced from the bartender.)

Related:

• Hammock by Koichi Futatsumata

We wrote about the gold prize yesterday, but the 2010 JCD Design Award top prize went to the Kyoto-based capsule hotel 9h. Congratulations to Fumie Shibata (creative direction and product design), Masaaki Hiromura (graphic design) and Takaaki Nakamura (interior design)!

Spoon & Tamago profiled 9h back in March. You can read the post here.

We’ve just received word that GENETO has been awarded a gold in the 2010 JCD Design Awards for their work, Tanada Piece Gallery. Located in Kyotanabe City, Kyoto (Google Map) the gallery was designed to emulate the terraced rice paddies that begin to take shape as you travel by train to arrive at the modest town.

The clients – two retired schoolteachers – wanted to create a multifunctional space where families and children could come and enjoy art, chat, play and generally just enjoy themselves. The designers came up with the idea of various “scenes” that would allow for the different activities and the result is a revolutionary space for viewing art.

I think having art on the floors, at the same level as the viewer, is simply a fantastic way to gets kids and adults interested in art. It’s hard to get anyone excited about art if you hang it on a wall, several feet above their head, forcing them to strain their neck at something that is flaunting its importance.

The JCD (Japan Commercial Environment Designers Association) Design Awards are given to designers, and their work, who particularly excel in the field of interior design and commercial space design

Some winners for the 2009 JCD Design Awards include Yamakoya by Ben Nagaoka, Blossom and Atmosphere by Ryuji Nakamura, Spitzen weben by Chuo Architects and Mori x Haco by UID Archtects.

Ichiro Katami of Kata Inc. – one of the masterminds whose designs ignited the café boom in Tokyo – has completed his latest project. What can only be an homage to the great Mexican painter Diego Rivera, Diego by the River (Google Map) opened in Enoshima on May 1st.

It’s situated at the mouth of Sagami Bay and overlooks the water, as well as Enoshima. Bring your doggy because the stylish café has a pet-friendly terrace.

Related:

• Public Diner by Ichiro Katami

Last summer the multifaceted indie fashion retailer Opening Ceremony opened their Tokyo flagship store to much acclaim. Their first venture outside the US was anything but modest – an 8-level “mini mall” in the middle of Shibuya.  And Jamo Associates – the go-to-guys for store design in Japan – have finally uploaded official pictures of their work.

The verdict? If flamingos, lamas, floating chairs and florescent mannequins are your thing, go now. If you like walking through IKEA’s showroom, go now. And if you haven’t been there yet, go now. This is a freakin fashion amusement park; a must-see especially if you are interested in store/window display design.

By the way, this exhaustive set of pictures are in hierarchical order – from FL 1 to FL 8.

Related:

• Jamo Associates

click images to enlarge

Despite the odd name that conjures up all sorts of equally odd images, the renovated 6th floor rooms of Hotel NUTS (which stands for New Urban Time and Space) offer visitors to Tokyo a unique space that gracefully blends preexisting elements with traditional Japanese design.

Upsetters Architects were responsible for the interior design. And perhaps they appreciated graphic designer Shun Kawakami and calligraphy artist Gen Miyakawa’s collaboration as much as I did because they enlisted the two to create similar designs on the ceilings of the hallways. The calligraphy, combined with the calculated lighting, creates an anachronistic atmosphere that heightens expectations leading up to the rooms.

Here are some shots of the actual rooms. They intentionally exposed the bare walls of the building – leaving, at times, markings made during construction – to create a balance between structural information and elements of Japanese design, such as light and texture. Nice!

Related:

• balloon as vase by shun kawakami