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The Parallel Blue Aquarium Dining by Tetsuya Matsumoto

The Parallel Blue Aquarium Dining by Tetsuya Matsumoto is a highly esteemed winner of the very prestigious 2021 A' Design Award nga Puthaw in Disenyo sa Espasyong Interyor ug Eksibisyon Competition Category.


PuthawInteryor· 2021

The Parallel Blue Aquarium Dining

by Tetsuya Matsumoto

Client: Starlinks.Co.Ltd

A' Design Award nga Puthaw Winner in Interyor Category

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Verified Award Winner

Verify Award Status for #115599

Colors

The Design

About The Parallel Blue Aquarium Dining

Nahimutang sa usa sa pinaka-bustling nightlife spots sa Japan, ang The Parallel Blue nagtanyag og bag-ong aquarium dining experience sa Shinjuku, Tokyo. Gihagit ang mga posibilidad nga adunay tema sa dagat sa kasingkasing sa konkretong jungle, ang bag-ong restawran naghimo sa yano nga palibot sa pagkamaabiabihon nga usa ka immersive nga wanang diin ang mga panihapon naunlod sa usa ka uniberso sa aquarium. Aron makamugna ang immersive nga kasinatian, ang mga dingding nahuman sa mga salamin ug ang kisame sa parehas nga reflective nga mga panel nga aluminyo nga naggasto sa wanang sa tanan nga direksyon ug nagmugna pag-usab sa kinabuhi sa kadagatan sa usa ka palibot nga palibot.

The Recognition

About the A' Design Award nga Puthaw

The Parallel Blue Aquarium Dining usa ka mananaog sa A' Design Award nga Puthaw, usa ka dungganon nga pag-ila nga gihatag sa maayong mga disenyo nga nakatagbo sa propesyonal ug industriyal nga mga gikinahanglan nga gipaabot gikan sa maayo ang pagkadisenyo nga mga paglalang. Ang mga mananaog sa Puthaw nagpakita og dakong kahanas, taas nga espesyalisasyon, eksperto nga pagsabot, ug mamugnaon nga abilidad sa ilang mga tiglalang. Gilauman nga ang The Parallel Blue Aquarium Dining mahimong gipabilhan, gihangaan, ug gihigugma nga paglalang nga praktikal ug bag-o. Kini nga disenyo nga nakadaog og A' Design Award nga Puthaw naghiusa sa labing maayong mga praktis sa industriya ug adunay hanas nga teknikal nga mga kinaiya nga nalambigit sa kahibalo ug talento. The Parallel Blue Aquarium Dining gitahod tungod sa pagkamaabtik niini ug gidisenyo aron maghatag og mga pagpaayo sa kalidad sa kinabuhi nga makatabang sa paghimo sa kalibutan nga mas maayong dapit.

Behind the Design

Press Kit

Credits, team members and technical details provided by the designer.

Unique Properties
Located in one of the most bustling night life spots in Japan, The Parallel Blue offers a new aquarium dining experience in Shinjuku, Tokyo. Challenging the ocean themed possibilities in the heart of the concrete jungle, the new restaurant turns the simple hospitality environment into an immersive space where dinners are submerged in an aquarium universe. The roles are inversed, the dining room is now surrounded by oceanic sceneries, instead of the classical decorative use of aquariums.
Dimensions & Packaging
Gross Built Area: 94sqm
W12350mm x D8850mm x H2200mm
Tags
Japan, restaurant, aquarium, Tokyo, immersive, narrow, reflection, blue
Production Technology
The restaurant occupies the fourth floor of a mixed-use building. Considering the water tanks heavy weight to be introduced in a relatively old building, the aquariums were positioned exclusively on the top of load bearing beams. Moreover, the aquariums require a maintaining space on the top restricting them from reaching the ceiling. To create the immersive experience, walls were finished in mirrors and the ceiling in reflective aluminum panels expending the space in all directions.
Design Challenge
The biggest challenge was to create an immersive experience in a limited area not exceeding the 100sqm and a ceiling height limited to a crushing 2.2m. the other challenge was to insert heavy water tanks inside a relatively old building not designed to bare heavy loads. The solution was to position the water tanks directly over the beams, and extend the space using reflections on the walls and ceiling.
Research
The hospitality design and the immersive experience design are stepping each one step closer to each other. While this is true and being tested in several digital immersive art forms, it is less common when it comes to non-digital experiences. The creative research that this project was based on was to find out a way to use the smaller aquariums to create immersive environment.
Inspiration
The design for The Parallel Blue is inspired by both the immersive art experiences and the much larger oceanic aquariums attractions. The location of the restaurant in one of the most vibrant nightlife spots in Tokyo, has also had its influence on the space design.
Project Duration
Project start: December 2019.
Construction start: March 2020.
Project/Construction End: June 2020.

Location: Tokyo, Japan.
Operation Flow
The elevator hall on the 4th floor gives on the entrance door, the entrance is made through a small to create more privacy, the first space encountered after are four quarter of circles creating intimate spaces for couple seats. Two other subdivisions of the space are reserved to box sofa seating each with four tables. The smaller space has two tables for two, and two tables for four people. The larger space has two tables for four and two tables for 6 people.
Team Members
Tetsuya Matsumoto
Motoaki Takeuchi
Farid Ziani
Risa Iriyama
Mari Sugiyama
Image Credits
Image #1: photographer ©Stirling Elmendorf, The Parallel Blue, 2020.
Image #2: photographer ©Stirling Elmendorf, The Parallel Blue, 2020.
Image #3: photographer ©Stirling Elmendorf, The Parallel Blue, 2020.
Image #4: photographer ©Stirling Elmendorf, The Parallel Blue, 2020.
Image #5: photographer ©Stirling Elmendorf, The Parallel Blue, 2020.

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