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The Grand Blue Express Ounjẹ by Tetsuya Matsumoto

The Grand Blue Express Ounjẹ by Tetsuya Matsumoto is a highly esteemed winner of the very prestigious 2022 Àmì-ẹ̀yẹ Fàdákà A' Design Award in Àpẹẹrẹ Àyà Inú Ilé àti Ibi Àfihàn Competition Category.


FàdákàInú Ilé· 2022

The Grand Blue Express Ounjẹ

by Tetsuya Matsumoto

Client: Nautilus Ueno

Àmì-ẹ̀yẹ Fàdákà A' Design Award Winner in Inú Ilé Category

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The Design

About The Grand Blue Express Ounjẹ

Grand Blue Express jẹ ile ounjẹ jijẹ aquarium igbadun ni Ueno, Tokyo. Aaye ti a tunṣe ti o ni opin si 95sqm mu lori ilẹ 5th ti ile ti a lo papọ. Atilẹyin nipasẹ awọn ọkọ oju-irin igbadun, apẹrẹ naa n gbiyanju lati bori awọn opin aaye kekere si awọn mejeeji gba awọn aquariums ati pese oju-aye igbadun ti ile ounjẹ naa ni ero lati ṣe. Yara ile ijeun gba irisi ẹlẹsin ọdẹdẹ ti o nṣe iranṣẹ awọn agọ kọọkan ni ẹgbẹ mejeeji. agọ kọọkan ti ni ipese pẹlu aquarium rẹ ti a fi sori ẹrọ lati farawe awọn ferese ọkọ oju irin, ṣiṣẹda iwunilori lati wa inu ọkọ oju irin ti n rin kiri labẹ omi.

The Recognition

About the Àmì-ẹ̀yẹ Fàdákà A' Design Award

The Grand Blue Express Ounjẹ jẹ́ olùborí Àmì-ẹ̀yẹ Fàdákà A' Design Award, ìdánimọ̀ onípọ̀nlé lọ́nà àrà ọ̀tọ̀ tí a fún àwọn àwòṣe ìpele gíga jùlọ tó dára tó sì ń kan ọkàn. Àwọn olùborí Fàdákà jẹ́ àwọn iṣẹ́ tó ń tàn yòò gidigidi tó sì ní ìṣẹ̀dá púpọ̀ tí wọ́n ń ṣàfihàn ìmọ̀ ìjìnlẹ̀, ẹ̀bùn àti ìmọ̀ràn àwọn olùṣàwòṣe wọn. A retí pé The Grand Blue Express Ounjẹ yóò jẹ́ iṣẹ́ àgbàyanu, àpẹẹrẹ rere, ti ọ̀jáfáfá lọ́nà tó ṣe pàtàkì tó sì ní ìmúṣẹ̀dá tuntun jinlẹ̀. Àwòṣe tó borí Àmì-ẹ̀yẹ Fàdákà A' Design Award yìí jẹ́ ohun ìmúṣẹ̀dá tó hàn gbangba gidigidi tí a mọrírì tó ń ṣe anfàní tó sì ń tì ààlà iṣẹ́ ọnà, sáyẹ́ǹsì, àwòṣe àti ìmọ̀-ẹ̀rọ síwájú. The Grand Blue Express Ounjẹ jẹ́ ẹ̀dá tí ọ̀pọ̀lọpọ̀ ń ṣe ìlara, tó ń jí ìfẹ́ inú, tó ń mú ìmọ̀lára rere wá tó sì ń jí ìyàlẹ́nu àti ìyanu.

Behind the Design

Press Kit

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

Unique Properties
The renovation work for the aquarium dining restaurant took place on the narrow 5th floor of a mixed used building in Ueno, Tokyo. The restaurant is inspired by luxury cruise trains and imitates them to produce a small yet luxurious atmosphere for the dining room. The seats are made into train cabins where the windows are replaced by aquariums. The space turns on to offer an immersive experience with the impression of being inside a train cruising underwater.
Dimensions & Packaging
Gross Built Area: 95sqm
W15325mm x D8300mm x H2390mm
Tags
Japan, dining, aquarium, restaurant, Tokyo, blue, train, immersive, hospitality, commercial
Production Technology
The walls are made using dry wall techniques. The floor is covered in ceramic tiles. While the ceiling is finished in vinyl cloth mainly, except for the central corridor ceiling which is covered in special stainless panels that imitates water waves. The aquariums are surrounded by steel frames with a golden baked painting finish. On the top of the frame another round steel panels that allows access to the aquariums for maintenance purposes.
Design Challenge
The client abstract when starting this project is to produce a luxury aquarium dining experience, however the total floor area to be used, including the kitchen is no larger than 95sqm and the height under the beams is limited to 2.3m. How can such a narrow place offer a luxury experience was the main challenge leading to the concept of luxury cruise trains. the second challenge was to integrate the aquariums in this composition without altering the concept.
Research
The experiment of this project was to find a way to imitate a luxury train experience on a concrete building inside the urban jungle of Tokyo. How can a built interior space offer the same experience than a moving dynamic wagon and how can interior materials be used to simulate an automotive space? The combination of material use, dimensional canons, and geometrical shapes were the core of this design exercise.
Inspiration
The space was inspired by luxury trains rides which offers various services. The trains are composed of several wagons with special functions and special layouts. The restaurant combines two types of wagons, the cabin and the dinner and merge them to create a dining cabin, and since the restaurant theme is aquarium dining, the train windows are replaced by aquariums to create a simulation of a train cruising under the water.
Project Duration
Project start: July 2021.
Construction start: December 2021.
Project/Construction End: February 2022.

Location:
Ueno, Tokyo, Japan.
Operation Flow
Since the restaurant is located on the 5th floor of a building the access is done through the elevator that opens to a small welcoming hall. At the corner a circular shaped sofa. Then the corridor along the space serving the cabins on both sides. on the left, four two-seaters cabins and on the right four other four-seaters cabins. At the end of the corridor the VIP cabin. The kitchen is accessed on both extremities of the corridor on the right side.
Team Members
Tetsuya Matsumoto
Motoaki Takeuchi
Risa Iriyama
Image Credits
Image #1: photographer ©Stirling Elmendorf, Nautilus, 2022.
Image #2: photographer ©Stirling Elmendorf, Nautilus, 2022.
Image #3: photographer ©Stirling Elmendorf, Nautilus, 2022.
Image #4: photographer ©Stirling Elmendorf, Nautilus, 2022.
Image #5: photographer ©Stirling Elmendorf, Nautilus, 2022.

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