Sandwiched between two fairly ordinary buildings in central Tokyo, Yugutoku Restaurant attracts all the attention with its unique facade boasting an undulating pattern. Designed by ISSHO Architects, the eye-catching soba noodle shop features both modern and traditional design motifs. The designers behind the artistic architectural project manage to skillfully combine the opposing aesthetic styles and allow them to work in sync.
Keeping a simple and modest color palette of dark and light tones, the interior and exterior of the building offer polarizing shades that brilliantly complement one another. While the architecture appears dark and somewhat futuristic from the outside, it is a bright, serene wooden escape inside, incorporating a Machiya style typically used in traditional wooden townhouses found throughout Japan.
Though the building features a dark exterior, its appearance is, in fact, greatly influenced by the interior. The project explains: “Regionally different patterns of light spill through the faade from the interior, allowing a gradual change of character at dawn, especially as viewed from the main street.”
Photo credit: Koichi Torimura
ISSHO Architects website
via [Contemporist]