Men’s trends? Or women’s? On the fifth floor of the stylish SEIBU SHIBUYA “depaato” store, boundaries are fluid. Located in Tokyo’s Shibuya district, this traditional Japanese department store houses shopping, wellness, restaurant and foodservice facilities on a total of nine floors. In Tokyo’s big city life, Shibuya is both a vibrant shopping and entertainment area as well as a creative hotspot for youth fashion and culture. It is no wonder therefore that one of the most promising young Japanese architects was entrusted with the re-launch of floor five of the renowned, prestigious SEIBU SHIBUYA. Her name: Yuko Nagayama. Breaking away from the spatial concept of the existing structures, she has made a sensual play of connections and partitioning within opposing forms. Spatial perception is rendered along clean-cut zoning switches, top quality materials and intelligent, highly distinctive detail solutions.
alphamesh – the stuff fairytale settings are made of
The intentionally purist spatial conception focuses on the essentials of a sales area, i.e. the effective showcasing of the items offered for sale. In the “Women’s Fashion” area, architectural structure and display configuration symmetry are enhanced by draping waves of mesh. Radiating a metallic glitter and an invitingly exclusive ambience. In 100 percent pure polished stainless steel. Thousands upon thousands of steel rings woven together, each single ring having a 12 mm diameter. A.k.a.: alphamesh 12.0 polished stainless steel ring mesh.
alphamesh – bewitchingly transparent
In conveying her spatial vision of the SEIBU SHIBUYA project, Yuko Nagayama artfully highlights the fundamental properties of alphamesh and uses the ring mesh’s transparency factor to entice the viewer to look beyond. A further fundamental property, i.e. the three-dimensional formability of the ring mesh is highlighted by the waving falls of drapes broken into iridescent layers, superimposed to reveal just enough to arouse a viewers’ curiosity. The viewer’s attention is thus captured and held, led by the distinctive material aesthetics warranted by alphamesh.
Project: Seibu Shibuya, Tokyo | Country: Japan | Architects / Designer / Photocredits: Yuko Nagayama & Associates, Tokyo
Material: alphamesh 12.0 stainless steel polished | Quantity: approx. 600 m²