2021 | Professional

MUSE Design Awards Gold Winner

Koji Saryo Produced by Uonuma Jozo

Entrant

Transit Branding Studio

Category

Interior Design - Restaurants & Bars

Client's Name

Marukome Co.,Ltd.

Country / Region

Japan

Located inside a luxury resort and shopping center in Mie Prefecture, this café operated by rice-koji maker Uonuma Jozo offers amazake, a sweet fermented koji drink, and other koji products. The materials, colors, and forms of the café were inspired by the heat of koji fermentation and the traditional architecture of Uonuma, the company’s hometown in northern Japan, where snow can pile up over three meters high in winter.

During the process of making koji, heat is released when microorganisms consume organic matter—which is to say, the warmth of fermentation is a vital, living warmth that changes second by second. This space was designed with a similar mindset. For instance, the flushed red fixture surrounded by benches in the center of the room is intentionally lowered to eye level to create a striking contrast in hue when viewed from outside. When guests sit on the bench and view the greenery outside, their perception of the colors gradually changes. In addition, the red plaster floor adds to the ruddy light that reflects off the faces of people in the café. This sequence of color transformations is intended to express the living warmth of fermentation.

Credits

Photographer/ Transit Branding Studio
Hitomi Matsuno
More Gold Winners
Interior
2021
MUSE Design Awards Winner - Vanke Peninsula International Sales Centre

Entrant

MAUDEA Design (Shanghai) Interior Architects Ltd.

Category

Interior Design - Hotels & Resorts

Interior
2021
MUSE Design Awards Winner - 鸿荣源前海私人会所

Entrant

深圳市宇一室内设计有限公司

Category

Interior Design - Other Interior Design

Packaging
2021
MUSE Design Awards Winner -  The Seeds of Faith

Entrant

Beijing Forestry University

Category

Packaging Design - Self Promotion

Architectural
2021
MUSE Design Awards Winner - CR LAND NANJING QIAOBEI MIX ONE

Entrant

AICO

Category

Architectural Design - Rebirth Project (NEW)