Kōhī House
Ginza, Tokyo · Spring 2023About the Project
Kōhī House seeks to enrich consumers by fostering an intimate and welcoming experience - bonded through brew.
Kōhī House is a coffee brand that is on a mission to reflect the values of community, experience, and sustainability. Kōhī House focuses on bringing sustainability into the workplace, enforced in the product, space designs, and material specifications. Each sip is ethically grown, locally sourced, and recycled.
The design concept is wabi-sabi - a philosophy that symbolizes finding beauty in imperfect things, even calling attention to them. The design intent is to emulate a comforting environment by incorporating formal and informal spaces in conjunction with intentionally unrefined moments. Wabi-sabi supports the reality of work while encouraging growth and adaptability.
The environment inspires personal growth and allows the occupants to be their true selves. The intention is to represent the loved aspects of being at home while maintaining a professional environment.
Project Details
- ProjectCorporate Office for Kōhī House (Coffee Brand HQ)
- LocationGinza, Tokyo
- TeamGroup project with Emily Dutton, Madison Oliver and Madison Martin
- SoftwareRevit, Lumion, Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Illustrator
- TimelineSpring 2023
Mjøstranet
Brumunddal, NorwayThe primary aim of the Mjøstranet project is to weave all functional and design elements seamlessly, as if the space is woven like a tapestry.
Mjøstranet hosts apartments, a hotel, public spa, and wood heritage museum. Both occupants and employees should experience the space uninterrupted and harmoniously. Mjøstranet strives to interconnect spaces, ensuring their specific environments are differentiated yet effortless to move between. This concept draws from traditional Norwegian weaving practices that appear clean and simple but are actually composed of many meticulous details.
Project Details
- ProjectHotel/Apartment Lobby, Public Spa Lobby and Wood Heritage Museum
- LocationBrumunddal, Norway
- TeamIndividual
- SoftwareRevit, Twinmotion, Adobe Photoshop
Pyramidal saxifrage
The spaces aesthetically emulate the national flower of Norway, the pyramidal saxifrage. This flower can flourish no matter how harsh conditions may be. It symbolizes the resilience of the Norwegian people. The color scheme in Mjøstranet is inspired by this flower.
Section A
The occupant enters the museum and has the option to either take a grand staircase to the mezzanine level, or a tunnel like hallway on the first level. These two options presented aim to challenge the occupant and encourage them to experience the museum without a prescribed methodology.
Many elements in the museum are lifted from the ground, and many are in glass features which protect them, yet allow them to appear floating. The intent of this is to allow the occupant to experience the stories of the artifacts without any timeline in place. The tapestries and wood carvings tell stories that are in some sense up to interpretation to the viewer, with minimal descriptions in place. This follows the theme of comfortability by allowing the occupant to experience the museum how they please, interpreting the stories in a way that feels right to them. There are benches throughout the museum to allow the occupant to take breaks when needed and encourage a slow pace.
Wood carvings
Relief carvings are showcased in the museum to pay homage to traditional Norwegian wood usage and carving practices. Relief carvings can be dated as old as the Viking times, and as new as the present day. It is a unique art form in the sense that it is still practiced today. Relief carvings often illustrate stories such as historical events or periods.
Tapestries
Norway used to be a very poor country, without any sort of royal court or aristocracy in place, while many other countries in European history were richer and had a royal power in place. At the time, women had the opportunity to work in weaving studios and create masterpieces tapestries. In many other European countries, women were only given simple tasks in weaving studios such as sweeping. Therefore, we can learn a lot about Norwegian society, art and women’s history from tapestries.
LA Bedroom Refresh
Bedroom DesignI thoughtfully designed my LA bedroom with intention, creating a space that is both functional and inviting, inspired by the natural landscape of Southern California.
Let’s chat