Kenjo-tei is located along a street of tea shops, across from Kenrokuen in Kanazawa, one of the most famous gardens in Japan. Here, we transformed an old tea house into a restaurant and gift shop.
One of the tasks was to reinforce the old building with the technique of Sashimono, (woodworking joints), which has been adopted to support houses in the snow-heavy region of Hokuriku. As a result, we designed a large space of darkness, crisscrossed with wooden frames.
To reinforce the roof truss, we employed carbon fiber cables to highlight a merging of new and old technology developed in Ishikawa prefecture.
Kanazawa was a town of Edo-typed samurai (warrior) residences, where varying levels of darkness were generated throughout the space. We selected materials for the interior to revive such an atmosphere, punctuating the darkness with lamps sprinkled with gold leaves.

© Photography by Masato Mitsunari(totem)