Chez Shibata

Patisserie “Chez Shibata” has been operating for 27 years in this location. This shop closed once due to the building’s reconstruction, and has reopened soon after it was newly built.

When designing this shop, we focused on the “Chef-Owner’s characters”, which were his ”roots”, “experience” and “future”.

Mr. Shibata completed the training requirements for making western confectionery in Paris, and launched his shops in Asia as well as in Japan. As he had lived abroad and became familiar with the foreign atmosphere, he noticed that there were always “something Japanese” he integrated in what he made, which would blend into the taste and the appearance of his works. All the more, he is eager to brush up this sense of mind. Moreover, he has a twin brother and this aspect had definitely influenced his values. Although they are now working together, when still young, he had mixed feelings toward being treated as one with his brother. Whenever he played outside alone, he was frequently asked where his twin brother was. He did not appreciate being asked like that nor being treated as a pair. Thus, by seeking for having “a unique sense and to be different from others” became his core value which now best describes his character.

From the above aspects, the shop’s total design avoids using ostentations decoration and adopts slanted ceiling from the image of origami folding papers. In addition to those, we selected fabrics of kimono looms and Japanese traditional plasterer for the wall-finishing materials. In this way, gathering delicate handwork techniques and by simplifying in total, we created an atmosphere which resembles the impressions of Japanese food shops.

Talking about in detail, despite the functions being the same or the first impression looking alike, each of the shop’s pillars and display racks has different relations. Furthermore, by deliberately cracking the sides of the mortar utensils, we could generate the one and only aspect. There is no one identical item in the space provided.

By limiting the colors used, we were able to make colorful products appear even more appealing.