Shiro Kuramata famously viewed his designs as transient, fragile, fleeting, never expecting the immateriality of his creative vision to last for long.
Today, as Kuramata anticipated, few of the countless interiors that he dreamt up have survived since his death in 1991.
One space, however, is still around and now back on the creative radar: a cocktail bar called Comblé, in the city of Shizuoka, a few hours west of Tokyo on Japan's Pacific Ocean coast.
Located on the first floor of an otherwise nondescript building, the bar displays Kuramata's signature use of geometry and sweeping curves fused with floating components, a bold palette and striking materials such as acrylic, glass and terrazzo.
The bar is one of the few intact Kuramata designed interiors known to still exist, and a growing number of fans are making a pilgrimage to experience the space first-hand.
This story is from the June 2024 edition of Wallpaper.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Sign In
This story is from the June 2024 edition of Wallpaper.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Sign In
IN THE ZONE
The San Francisco live-work space of Indian studio Soft-Geometry provides the perfect place to work, rest and play
RISING STAR
The sky's the limit for Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam's booming metropolis, where stellar street food, historic alleyways and honking motorbikes now mix with shiny new skyscrapers, minimalist showrooms and upscale patisseries
GOOD MIXER
A site-specific artwork at Hauser Wirth Somerset serves up a cocktail of salvaged materials
UP AND AWAY
New London hotel The Emory presents the perfect showcase of RSHP's signature functionalist style and hospitality group Maybourne's elevated luxury
CABIN CLASS
An elegant escape on a remote Ontario island offers up a contemporary reinterpretation of the local vernacular
RECOVER VERSIONS
British-Indian collector Rajan Bijlani's design collection is inspired by a mission to conserve the Chandigarh legacy
DOTTED LINES
Library Street Collective's new cultural hub in Detroit, designed by OMA New York, is a signature rebuild that makes the most of the site's existing structures
POETRY IN MOTION
An immersive London exhibition takes visitors on an enchanted journey inside the watchmaking world of Van Cleef & Arpels
Talking point
Nice pen.' Two words, but in Steven Zaillian's recent remake of Patricia Highsmith's The Talented Mr Ripley, weighty with symbolism.
Modern love
We take a tour of Caracas' treasure trove of midcentury and brutalist gems