The Parallel Blue Lijo Tsa Aquarium by Tetsuya Matsumoto

The Parallel Blue Lijo Tsa Aquarium by Tetsuya Matsumoto is a highly esteemed winner of the very prestigious 2021 Moputso oa Tšepe oa A' Design Award in Moralo wa Sebaka sa Ka Hare le Dipontsho Competition Category.

TšepeKa Hare· 2021

The Parallel Blue Lijo Tsa Aquarium

by Tetsuya Matsumoto

Client: Starlinks.Co.Ltd

Moputso oa Tšepe oa A' Design Award Winner in Ka Hare Category

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Colors

The Design

About The Parallel Blue Lijo Tsa Aquarium

E lutse ho se seng sa libaka tse phetheselang ka ho fetesisa tsa bophelo bosiu Japane, The Parallel Blue e fana ka boiphihlelo bo bocha ba ho jela ba aquarium Shinjuku, Tokyo. E phephetsa menyetla ea leoatle ka har'a moru oa konkreite, sebaka sa thekiso ea lijo se secha se fetola tikoloho e bonolo ea ho amohela baeti sebakeng se qoelisoang moo lijo tsa mantsiboea li qoelisoang ka har'a bokahohle ba aquarium. Ho theha boiphihlelo ba ho qoelisoa, mabota a ile a phethoa ka liipone le siling ka liphanele tsa aluminium tse bonahatsang ka mokhoa o ts'oanang tse sebelisang sebaka ka nqa tsohle le ho nchafatsa bophelo ba maoatle tikolohong e potolohileng.

The Recognition

About the Moputso oa Tšepe oa A' Design Award

The Parallel Blue Lijo Tsa Aquarium ke mohapi oa Moputso oa Tšepe oa A' Design Award, kananelo e hlomphehang e fuoang meralo e metle e finyellang litlhoko tsa porofeshenale le tsa indasteri tse lebelletsoeng ho lintho tse hlahisitsoeng tse entsoeng hantle. Bahapi ba Tšepe ba bontša bokhoni bo boholo, bokhethehi bo phahameng, kutloisiso ea litsebi le bokhoni ba boqapi ba baqapi ba bona. The Parallel Blue Lijo Tsa Aquarium e lebelletsoe ho ba ntho e hlahisitsoeng e hlomphuoang haholo, e ratoang le e ratehang, e sebetsang le e nang le mehopolo e mecha. Moralo ona o hapileng Moputso oa Tšepe oa A' Design Award o kenyelletsa mekhoa e metle ka ho fetesisa ea indasteri mme o na le litšobotsi tsa theknoloji tse nang le bokhoni tse amanang le tsebo le talenta. Ka lebaka la botlalo ba eona, The Parallel Blue Lijo Tsa Aquarium e tšoanelehela tlhompho mme e entsoe ho fana ka ntlafatso ea bophelo e thusang ho etsa hore lefatše le be sebaka se molemo.

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.