Bronze A' Design Award in Interior Space and Exhibition Design Goes to Koto Tea Space Cafe by Takanao Todo

Takanao Todo recognized for interior space and exhibition design by the international grand jury of the 2023 - 2024 A' Design Award & Competition

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

COMO, Italy, April 16, 2024 /DesignNewswire/ Koto Tea Space Cafe by Takanao Todo has been granted the Bronze A' Design Award in the Interior Space and Exhibition Design category, A' Design Award & Competition has announced. The award was conferred within the 2023 - 2024 A' Design Award & Competition and was determined through blind peer review by an international grand jury panel of established academics, design professionals and press members, who assessed anonymized entries against predetermined criteria.

What the Bronze A' Design Award Means

The Bronze A' Design Award is given to outstanding designs that showcase a high degree of creativity and practicality. It recognizes the dedication and skill of designers who produce work that stands out for its thoughtful development and innovative use of materials and technology. These designs are acknowledged for their professional execution and potential to influence industry standards positively. Winning this award highlights the designer's ability to blend form and function effectively, offering solutions that enhance people's lives and wellbeing.

About Koto Tea Space Cafe

Koto Tea Space, a tranquil Japanese teahouse nestled in downtown Bangkok, brings the enchanting concept of "Shichu no Sankyo" to life a country retreat within the urban pulse. Concealed by wave-patterned ceramic tiles, the entrance shields from the city's chaos, warding off sunlight and rain. Inside, the Tea Salon boasts 6 seats and 2 tatami areas, offering a peaceful horizontal design reminiscent of Shugaku-in's signature shelf. With a focus on harmony, the existing structure, earthy walls, and natural lacquer-finished furniture unite to create an inviting coziness.

About Takanao Todo

Takanao Todo is an architectural designer, ceramicist, lecturer and educator for supporting dyslexia in Japanese. His major contribution in design is realization of "total work of art" via seamless integration from object, furniture, space and to the level of operation, while applying conceptual approach enabling to share the latent narrative to wider audiences. He is challenging how Japanese tea culture can evolve outside of Japan through design also. He integrates both local and digital craft in his design for more human centric design.

Award Record

This recognition makes Takanao Todo a winner of 1 A' Design Award.

About the A' Interior Space, Retail and Exhibition Design Award

The A' Interior Design Award is an international interior design competition recognizing good interior designs by interior designers and architects worldwide. The competition is organized within the A' Design Award & Competition and is open to interior designers, interior architects, architects and decorators from all countries. Entries typically include residential interiors, restaurants, hotels, offices, galleries and retail stores. Awarded interior designs are published at https://designers.org/design-category/interior

About A' Design Award & Competition

A' Design Award & Competition is an international, juried design accolade organized annually since 2008. The competition is open to entries from all countries. The A' Design Award has a philanthropic mission to advance society through good design by recognizing and promoting superior products, projects and services that benefit society, and by creating a global awareness and appreciation for good design practices and principles. Entries are peer reviewed and anonymously evaluated by an international grand jury panel of established academics, design professionals and press members against predetermined criteria such as functionality, ergonomics, engineering, presentation, innovation, usability, sustainability and technology, with score normalization applied to remove biases. Awards are conferred at Platinum, Gold, Silver, Bronze and Iron levels. The A' Design Prize granted to eligible laureates includes the award trophy, the certificate of design excellence, the hardcover yearbook, a lifetime license to use the A' Design Award winner logo, exhibition of awarded works, an invitation to the gala night and award ceremony in Italy, inclusion in the World Design Rankings and Designer Rankings, and public relations and publicity services. Registration, the upload of a work and the preliminary score are free of charge, and Professional and Digital Edition laureates are not contractually obliged to pay further fees to claim the A' Design Prize. Further information is available at https://competition.adesignaward.com

Press Resources

Winner Page: https://designers.org/154704
A' Design Award Page: https://competition.adesignaward.com/154704
Media Showcase: https://www.designnewsroom.com/!154704
Laureate Profile: https://designers.org/d/348135
Further Information from the Laureate: https://takanao00.wixsite.com/takanaotododesign

Media Contact

Giulia Ferrari, Press Office
Designers.Org
Via Leone Leoni 32, 22100 Como, Italy
press@designers.org
+39 031 4491953

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Fact Sheet

The Work

Project: Koto Tea Space Cafe
Function: Cafe
Category: Interior Space and Exhibition Design
Discipline: Spatial Design
Industry: Architecture and Packaging & Retail
Colors: Black, Sienna, Dim Gray, Saddle Brown and Dark Slate Gray
Images: 5

The Recognition

Laureate: Takanao Todo
Country: Thailand
Recognition: Bronze A' Design Award
Edition: 2023 - 2024
Design ID: #154704

Credits

Team: n.a.
Image Credits: Image #1, Santawat Chienpradit and Swita Uancharoenkul, Koto Tea Space, 2023 Image #2, Santawat Chienpradit and Swita Uancharoenkul, Koto Tea Space, 2023 Image #3, Santawat Chienpradit and Swita Uancharoenkul, Koto Tea Space, 2023 Image #4, Santawat Chienpradit and Swita Uancharoenkul, Koto Tea Space, 2023 Image #5, Santawat Chienpradit and Swita Uancharoenkul, Koto Tea Space, 2023 Video, Takanao Todo, Koto Tea Space, 2023 Sound, Lalinea, Blue Butter, 2022

Design Details

Unique Properties: Koto Tea Space is an exclusive Japanese tea House to appreciate and promote authentic Japanese tea in downtown Bangkok. The entrance of the tea space is covered in wave-patterned ceramic tiles to conceal the tea space from outside while blocking light and rain. Tea Salon has 6 seats and 2 tatami spaces to relax. Space consists of a horizontal composition with a signature shelf. There is a clear hierarchy of the existing structure, earthy walls, and natural lacquer-painted furniture.
Inspiration: The space is designed with a Japanese design concept, Sichu no Sankyo, a rural hut in the bustling city. There are layers to help escape from ordinary life, from the entrance to a main tea salon and a bathroom for enjoying solitude and silence. There is respect for the classic Japanese architecture for proportion and composition. Important references are from Shugaku-in palace and Tai-an tea house. Tile patterns derive from the pan-Asian motif as a sign of cultural exchange.
Research: The Japanese Design Concept This project embraces the concept of Sichu no Sankyo. Learning from precedences informs the spatial arrangement of the design. Thai Ceramic Cladding Chulalongkorn University granted to develop an environmentally performative ceramic cladding. The team studied precedence from the Thai application of ceramic in cladding and Brise Soleil in Thai modernism architecture. The digital fabrication and computer simulation led to novel expression in Thai ceramic cladding.
Challenge: Construction Working with local contractors made it difficult to communicate design intentions as often they make interpretations or design changes without the designer's approval. Only the frequent visit to the construction site with careful on-site explanation improves the difficulty. Ceramic Fabrication Tiles have been modified several times through physical fabrication tests to be finalized. 3 prototype cladding leads to the final design.
Realization and Technology: Ceramic tiles are fabricated from a 3D print mold. There has been a series of prototypes to rationalize the component. Each tile is placed on a slightly different angled metal bracket allowing view and wind penetration simulated in a 3D model. Simple on-site assembly system completed 2 hours on site with precision.
Operation and Interaction: Most of the service takes place at the main counter space. Due to the popularity, and limited seats, all seats must be reserved in advance. Frequent workshops take place in the shop to provide a comprehensive understanding of the Japanese Tea Culture. Tatami space is designed to accommodate tea ceremonies, as well as a casual resting area for the customers.
Project Duration and Location: The first design phase of the project started in August 2021 and finished in October 2021 in Bangkok. The Construction started from 2021 October to 2022 January Ceramic wall installation in 2022 June Interior update completed in 2023 July Location 492 Si Lom, Suriya Wong, Bang Rak, Bangkok 10500
Specifications: Width 4600mm X Depth 14550mm X Height 3320mm Ceiling finish, Dark Gray Paint Wall finish, Beige Texture Paint Furniture, Solid Ash, and Ash Veneer Plywood coated with a natural lacquer finish Lighting specification, Evotechi LINE1616 Evotechi LINE 2507 Evotechi LINE 1701 PhillipsMAS LEDspotLV 3.5-20W 827 MR11 24D Evotechi RIBBON 2835 4.8W PhillipsMAS MR16 LED 12V 5.5W 3000K 24D GU5.3 (NO DIM)
Keywords: Japanese Tea, Ceramic, Digital fabrication, Tea Salon, Cafe