Merci Magazine Late Summer & Pre-Fall 2021 by Merci Magazine

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Architecture & Interior Design

ARCHITECTURE | INTERIOR DESIGN | CREATIVE LIVING

YOUR LIFESTYLE MAGAZINE

Late Summer & Pre -Fall 2021

Merci Magazine - Late Summer and Pre-Fall 2021

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Architecture | Interior Design | Creative Living

Late Summer & Pre -Fall 2021

YOUR LIFESTYLE MAGAZINE DESIGN & LIVING 10

Plico Chair By Fabricius & Kastholm

The Historic Royal Palaces Of The Great Masters

18 Ensue 28

The memory of stones

A Feeling called Home

Summer aloha

The Mushroom - A wood house in the forest

The Arena Papi restaurant

44 38 The Mushroom - A wood house in the forest

DESIGN & LIVING IN JAPAN 46

Living in craft comfort - R100 Tokyo

A Place called Home

The Varve Museum - Unveiling 70,000 years of Terrestrial History

The Ocean Breeze at Hiyoryama Coast Museum

Aman Tokyo - The Secret Garden in Kyoto

A Hundred Ancient Villages

DesignArt Tokyo - Five Young Talents

100

Pure Sensibility without Boundaries - Myonghi Kang’s

110

What Would Nietzche be thinking? Notes on Charles Chau's Upcoming Exhibition in Tokyo

121

Japanese Liquid Gold

10.

126

54 A Place called Home

110 What Would Nietzche be thinking?

MERCI TEAM

EDITOR’S LETTER

EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR Peggy Lui LIFESTYLE TEAMS & CONTRIBUTORS Peggy Lui Dasom Park Haruka Kondo Suzi Yamaguchi

The summer is winding up in the northern hemisphere after a

Kayri Yamaguchi

successful TOKYO 2020 Olympics/Paralypics where athletes from

Max Ramsay Lianne Hackett Angela Lopis

around the world gathered despite the global pandemic, as a symbol of hope and solidarity.

Vivianne Lau Jimmy Ming Shum

As we continue to navigate this new landscape of living with Covid,

David Hoggard

to accommodate a new normal, architects and designers have

Farid Zlami

had to push the boundaries of innovation and creativity in areas

Denis Guidone

we never thought we would have to explore. Many people have had

Hil Ying Tse

to telework from their homes, forcing them to adjust and change

Kaman Yip Board Advisor Tomohisa Nagai Charles Chau

lifestyle priorities. In this issue wood is a recurring theme, which speaks to me in terms of sustainability. The wood element is one that seeks ways to grow and expand. Maybe this moment in time has been given to us to reflect on the past and find ways to grow and expand our minds

Interested in advertising with us? Email to enquiries@merci-magazine.com. We will be contact you with our media kit and rates. All right reserved 2021 © Merci Media Corporation Mail 2nd Floor, 60 Atlantic Avenue. Toronto, Ontario, M6K 1X9 Canada For enquiries: Email: enquiries@merci-magazine.com Phone: 437-222-2064 Tokyo Representative Office TED ASSOCIATES Co.,Inc. Lucid Square Gotanda, 7-10-4 Nishigotanda, Shinagawa-ku,Tokyo 141-0031 Japan

Merci Magazine - Late Summer and Pre-Fall 2021

to think and work in more sustainable ways. I hope this edition of Merci Magazine provides some solace from the continuing global pandemic and you are able to get some hints for your lifestyle from some of the hidden gems in Japan.

Editor-In-Chief

peggylui Peggy Lui

www.merci-magazine.com www.facebook.com/MerciMagazine #mercimagazine

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TEAM MEMBERS AND CONTRIBUTORS

Vivianne Lau EDITOR LIFESTYLE Led by divine serendipity and fuelled by a love for beautiful things and minds, this renegade lawyer went on a series of professional adventures from branding to fashion to project management. In her private life, Vivianne is a closet creative junkie who gets her fix through writing, photography and cooking.

Suzi Yamaguchi EDITOR LIFESTYLE Originally from Australia, Suzi has spent her 30 year career in Japan working in film, performing arts, music and visual art. Her diverse experience began in the motion picture section of Japanese advertising giant Dentsu, organizing the Sundance Film Festival in Tokyo and film related promotional events. Subsequently interpreting for Japanese directors selected to attend Robert Redford’s Sundance Filmmakers Lab in Utah, USA. She worked in international production for renowned stage/film/casting director Yoko Narahashi, and for a children’s performing arts competition. Most recently she was the cultural/trade officer for cultural industries at the Embassy of Canada. Her passion is working on projects that affect positive social change through the arts.

Dasom Park GRAPHICS DESIGNER Dasom is an illustrator and graphic designer based in Toronto. She mainly draws digitally and likes to combine illustration in her design works. Visual storytelling is essential in creating her arts. She strives to expand her ways of storytelling through forms of short comics and animations. When not drawing, she immerses herself in nature and listens to the rain or enjoys the wind.

David Hoggard CONTRIBUTOR EDITOR ARCHITECTURE & DESIGN David has been a Partner at PDP London since 2007 and was in charge of the practice’s Asia Pacific portfolio. In 2010 Dave established PDP London’s Hong Kong Studio with the aim of expanding the brand into the Asia Pacific region. Prior to opening the Hong Kong Studio Dave was involved in many high quality projects in central London and led the design and execution of a number of projects in Hong Kong, Mainland China, and Japan. These include the acclaimed residential developments Grosvenor Place Kamizono-cho, Tokyo, and The Westminster Terrace in Hong Kong. Dave held the lead design role on these projects, a role that enabled him to build close relationships with the client and consultant teams.

Farid Ziani CONTRIBUTOR EDITOR ARCHITECTURE & DESIGN Farid Ziani is an Architect Designer at KTX archiLAB based in Japan. Prior to moving to Japan, Farid has alternated between practicing architecture and academic research with an international perspective. After graduating from the Polytechnical School of Architecture and Urban Design in Algiers, practicing shortly in the same city, and developing a peculiar interest to the local traditional forms of architecture, he joined a Master program in Cultural Heritage in the University of Paris Diderot and the ENSA Paris-Val-de-Seine. In the same University, Farid started writing a PhD thesis about post-modernism leading him to exchange studies in the University of Copenhagen. In Denmark he was introduced to the Scandinavian design principles, and the differences with the Mediterranean and West European cultural spheres. Differences and comparisons developed further to include the Japanese perspective since he joined KTX archiLAB in 2015 and worked on several international and local prize-winning projects.

Max Ramsay INTERNSHIP Originally from Australia, led by his passion for food & beverages, Max was steadily working in one of the top rated Japanese restaurants in Melbourne, Australia before his arrival in Japan. Currently on a gap year from his business degree, he has come to Japan to utilise his bicultural background to work for an Olympic hospitality program and gain experience in other various fields. In his private life Max enjoys reading grotesque, dark Japanese fiction novels from the likes of Haruki Murakami, Ryu Murakami and more. 5

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TEAM MEMBERS AND CONTRIBUTORS

Jimmy Ming Shum CONTRIBUTOR EDITOR PHOTOGRPAHY & VISUAL Jimmy Ming Shum is a famous photographer and film director in the Asia Pacific, now based in Tokyo, Japan. Jimmy Ming Shum was born in Hong Kong, graduated from San Francisco Art Institute, Studied at Parson and Pratt Institute in New York City. After returning to Hong Kong from New York, he once gave up photography. In 2004, he met with Nobuyoshi Araki and Yuki Eiji in Tokyo. After their encouragement, they decided to regain their camera and make photography a part of his life. In 2004, his work was selected as the “New Generation Photographers Exhibition” at the Qingli Photography Museum in Japan and listed as a permanent collection. In 2005, it won the AvantGuardian Award from the American design magazine SURFACE.

KAMAN YIP CONTRIBUTOR EDITOR LIFESTYLE Kaman is a certified yoga instructor based in Hong Kong, also a visual artist in her free time & experimenting in her plant based kitchen. With 500 Hours of Dharma yoga certified training under Sri Dharma Mittra, 200 hours of Master Sudhaka, Reiki 1 & 2, and Pre & Post - Natal, Kaman has been teaching at studio. Kaman is a creative teacher; likes to bring different dynamic elements into her classes to brings out fun & powerful practive. She is passionate about traveling, seeing the world and enjoys teaching at yoga retreats to share a memorable experiences with her students.

Kaiya Yamguchi INTERSHIP Born and raised in Tokyo, Japan by a Japanese father and Australian mother, Kaiya has been fortunate enough to have lived portions of his life as a student in both Australia and Japan. Growing up in both countries, Kaiya has developed a keen eye for quality food and coffee. Currently studying Sport Science and Management at Victoria University, in the future Kaiya aims to open a Melbourne style cafe in Tokyo to spread the Melbourne cafe culture. In his spare time, Kaiya likes to indulge himself in practising golf and playing basketball.

Merci Magazine - Late Summer and Pre-Fall 2021

Hil Ying Tse CONTRIBUTOR EDITOR SPIRITS Business owner, spirits consultant, event manager and simply a lover of always being on the move. Born in the Netherlands and now based in Hong Kong, Hil is a passionate lover of fine spirits and wines. She turned her interest into a business at end of 2016 and founded her own distribution company: Whiskies & More. The company selects, introduces and distributes premium spirits to China, Hong Kong and Macau.

Haruka Kondo CONTRIBUTOR EDITOR Lifestyle Born and raised in Nagano Prefecture, Japan, after graduating from high school Haruka went abroad to London, England where she studied English at an international language school. After completing her studies in London, Haruka travelled to Australia on a working holiday visa to continue using her language skills and to gain work experience in various fields. Upon returning to Japan, Haruka studied architecture at Aoyama Technical College with a research project on regional revitalisation. Presently based in Tokyo, Haruka currently works as an interior architect at Ted Associates. In the future, Haruka hopes to encourage people to live more inclusively with nature through her work as an interior designer. In her spare time, Haruka enjoys travelling and photographing architecture.

Architecture & Interior Design

Showcasing Tiffany’s signature collection through a pared-down, contemporary lens, Taylor-Joy, Gu, and Ross star in three vignettes obliquely centered around the letter T. Highlighting the design’s bold forms, striking pavé diamonds and intricate craftsmanship, the campaign was shot by Mario Sorrenti in New York City. While the story behind Tiffany T1 remains centered on inner strength and individuality, the breadth of the collection has evolved over the past year to include new

bracelets, earrings and pendant styles, as well as new 18k white gold iterations. In the ‘Give Me the T’ campaign, Taylor-Joy, Gu and Ross layer the new designs with other striking T1 pieces—such as the T1 choker with nearly 250 round brilliant and baguette diamonds totaling over 13 carats—showcasing how the collection creates opportunities for self-expression.

“I love jewelry that has symbolism in it,” said Anya Taylor-Joy. “I love it to mean something to me. It doesn't necessarily have to mean anything to anybody else, but I like to look down at my fingers and have a story.” 8

Merci Magazine - Late Summer and Pre-Fall 2021

Architecture & Interior Design

https://www.carlhansen.com/en 10

Merci Magazine - Late Summer and Pre-Fall 2021

PLICO CHAIR BY FABRICIUS & KASTHOLM By Merci Team Photo : CARL HANSEN & SØN

[The Danish designer duo] Fabricius & Kastholm were masters

At first glance, the chair appears deceptively simple, but closer

at creating honest design that beautifully highlights what other

examination reveals an extremely detailed design. The frame is made

designers often seek to hide. With its visible joints, beautiful brass

of solid oak and the rear legs have a slight bend, giving the chair a

fittings and accomplished craftsmanship, the Plico Chair is a great

soft rounding at the back. The armrests are made from saddle leather

example of this. The chair was first presented in 1964 when it won the

attached on the rear legs, resulting in a characteristic expression.

Copenhagen Cabinetmakers' Guild Furniture Prize for its outstanding

The back and seat are in canvas, and the cushions are upholstered

craftsmanship and expression.

in stitched linen canvas to provide an elegant expression. The brass fittings, which are fully visible, add a definite sense of character. The

The idea behind the design was to create a chair that takes up as

high back version of the chair also has a neck cushion in linen canvas

little space as possible when not in use while not compromising on

clamped with two straps in saddle leather which, combined with the

comfort. Plico means 'to fold' in Latin and, despite its light exterior,

flexible backrest, gives the chair an extra degree of comfort.

the chair offers supreme comfort by virtue of its soft upholstery and features an adjustable backrest that can be completely folded. This

About Carl Hansen & Son's relaunch of the Plico Chair, Thomas

ensures a degree of versatility rarely found in a lounge chair.

Kastholm, the son of Jørgen Kastholm, says, "The chair was a turning point in my father's work and proved to be a precursor to an

The Plico Chair is the second Fabricius & Kastholm design launched

international career in furniture design. I know the chair from my

by Carl Hansen & Son following the introduction of the flexible and

childhood - I played under, over, and on it, and I've always liked it. I'm

timeless FK Bookcase. On the thoughts behind the launch, Knud Erik

therefore delighted that the chair is now being given a new lease of

Hansen, CEO of Carl Hansen & Son, says, "Fabricius & Kastholm were

life."

masters at combining the highest quality materials with sublime craftsmanship, which perfectly matches Carl Hansen & Son's DNA. The

Knud Erik Hansen, CEO of Carl Hansen & Son, concludes: "The Plico

Plico Chair and FK Bookcase were created for the very same exhibition

Chair is an extremely versatile piece of furniture - not only in its

in 1964 and complement each other beautifully with their natural

function of being a foldable lounge chair, but also in its appearance,

materials and honest design. We are therefore delighted and proud

and it fits elegantly into the living room, the cottage, and the hotel

to have added another masterpiece from Fabricius & Kastholm to our

room and lobby. It is a comfortable and cosy chair to sit in with a

collection of design classics."

good book and a cup of coffee."

PRODUCT INFO Recommended retail prices FK10 Plico Chair, high back: 2102,- EUR ex. VAT FK11 Plico Chair, low back: 1861,- EUR ex. VAT

Dimensions (cm) FK10 Plico Chair, high back Seat height: 37 Height: 93.5 Depth: 85 Width: 74 FK11 Plico Chair, low back Seat height: 37 Height: 74 Depth: 85 Width: 74

Materials Frame: FSC -certified oak (FSC C135991), oil/ white-oil Armrests: Saddle leather Seat and back: Canvas and linen canvas Fittings: Brass

THE HISTORIC ROYAL PALACES OF THE GREAT MASTERS

Merci Magazine - Late Summer and Pre-Fall 2021

Architecture & Interior Design

More than 1,000 years of British Heritage By Merci Team Cole & Son has been creating original and exceptional wallcoverings since 1875. Innovative, intelligent, artistic design is founded upon a strong heritage of family craftsmanship. Founded by John Perry, Cole & Son was first established in the borough of Islington in North London, an area renowned for its 190 hand-block printing businesses at the time. Today, the Cole & Son archive is a beautiful and inspiring chronicle of artistic styles and expressions spanning the 18th Century to the modern-day. Amongst these are some of the most important historic wallpaper designs in the world. Cole & Son has provided wallpapers for many historic houses, including Buckingham Palace and the Houses of Parliament. Combining unparalleled style with the finest quality, the in-house design studio is dedicated to producing unique and distinctive designs which help shape.

On the wall: Verrio Mirrors Colourways: Soot & Metallic Silver; Cedar & Metallic Gilver The King’s Staircase of Hampton Court Palace was the inspiration behind Verrio Mirrors; an elaborate series of trompe l’oeil pillars created by master artist Antonio Verrio for William III. Verrio’s breath-taking work was much admired by the royals of the time, his imposing artworks being featured throughout Hampton Court Palace’s baroque expansion of the original Tudor residence. The staircase’s vast design creates the illusion of a great Roman courtyard open to the sky and can be paired with both King’s Argent and Fresco Sky to complete this enchanting scene.

Verdure Tapestry Colourways: Viridian, Teal, Ink & Chartreuse Taken from the Flemish tradition of vast tapestryweaving, Verdure Tapestry is inspired by a 17th century work which is currently displayed within the King’s Presence Chamber of Kensington Palace. Its verdant, pictorial scene pays homage to the richly woven, intricate tapestries that were known as ‘the mobile frescoes of the North’. These impressive pieces of woven art were a canvas for master weavers’ imaginations, each landscape lavish in fanciful trees and foliage, without the traditional perspective constraints of figurative or narrative tapestries. Translated here by Cole & Son into a sumptuous panel scene, Verdure Tapestry is full of life with its abundance of rich flora and fauna. 118/17039 14

Merci Magazine - Late Summer and Pre-Fall 2021

Architecture & Interior Design

Exceptional skill and creative ingenuity, Showcased within this grand portfolio of historic homes, Continues to allure and evoke marvel to this day.

Historic Royal Palaces is the independent

Great Masters heralds more than 1,000

charity that cares for the Tower of London,

years of British heritage. From the Medieval,

Hampton

Banqueting

Tudor and Jacobean, to the Georgian and

House, Kensington Palace, Kew Palace

Victorian eras, Great Masters honours the

and Hillsborough Castle and Gardens.

unparalleled skill of architects, artists,

Representing 1,000 years of Britain’s rich

master carvers, ironworkers, and landscape

royal past – from the Medieval, Tudor and

designers, whose exceptional skill and

Jacobean to the Georgian and Victorian eras

creative ingenuity, showcased within this

– the palaces are the work of some of the

grand portfolio of historic homes, continues

finest designers, architects and craftsmen

to allure and evoke marvel to this day.

Court

Palace,

of their day; Sir Christopher Wren, Peter Paul Rubens, Lancelot ‘Capability’ Brown, William

The design house of Cole & Son took

Kent, Antonio Verrio, Grinling Gibbons and

inspiration for each of the collection’s 17

Jean Tijou to name but a few.

designs from the royal of palaces’ magnificent architecture,

interiors,

collections

and

Historic Royal Palaces works under licence

gardens, including Hampton Court Palace

Palace Tales

with companies who share similar brand

with its unique mix of Tudor and baroque

Colourways: Leaf Green, Terracotta & Petrol

values, to create products inspired by the

style, Kensington Palace with its decorative

past for today’s market. These partnerships

Victorian charm and the imposing Tower

not only allow us to share the magnificent

of London, filled with intriguing tales of

artistic, cultural and social history of the

London’s medieval history.

Palace Tales combines three of Historic Royal Palaces’ most significant buildings – the Tower of London, Hampton Court Palace and Kensington Palace – representing almost 1,000 years of British royal history. Its whimsical take on a toile scene is made uniquely contemporary by a pictorial hand. Each element makes up the distinctive tapestry of tales that weave the palaces together. The ravens of the Tower can be seen above its keep, protecting the kingdom according to ancient legend. Below the depths of the River Thames can be seen a most unusual sight, a polar bear, kept by Henry III along with lions and other exotic beasts in his Royal Menagerie. The twilight scene of Kensington Palace is framed by the arching branches of Hyde Park, and a fallow deer approaches Hampton Court Palace gardens, reminiscent of the time when it was Henry VIII’s royal hunting ground.

palaces, bringing them to life in new and compelling ways, but the profits enable

With a shared passion for preserving the past,

us to support their conservation for future

in order to inspire the future, this second

generations.

collaboration with Historic Royal Palaces celebrates quintessential British history and

Paying homage to the master artisans,

heritage through Cole & Son’s detailed hand

craftsmen and celebrated monarchs who

and unparalleled use of colour and pattern.

shaped the six iconic royal residences, which are now cared for by Historic Royal Palaces,

Chamber Angels

Cole & Son’s designers took inspiration for Chamber Angels from the unique, carousel style structure found on the ceiling of The Presence Chamber, which forms part of the King’s State Apartments at Kensington Palace. Originally designed by William Kent, one of the most influential names in early 18th century design, the celebratory style of the pattern is evocative of the essence of the room, being a place where the king entertained and received courtiers, ministers and foreign ambassadors. Dancing figures have been combined with delicate foliage and the ripened fruits, once found in the Kensington Palace Orangery, create a decoratively decadent design.

Colourways: Denim, Red & Marigold on Ink; Cerulean Sky, Rouge & Marigold on Parchment

Above Left: 118/12028 Above Right: 118/12027

Wolsey Stars

Wren Architecture

Cardinal Thomas Wolsey, Henry VIII’s Lord Chancellor, started Hampton Court Palace’s transformation from an ordinary country house to a magnificent Tudor palace. He oversaw the initial interior scheme of this imposing residence and its Great Watching Chamber ceiling, in which the structure of Wolsey Stars can still be seen today. Found in the palace as an ornate wooden geometric design of interlocking stars, this print is contemporary in feel with its simple line-drawing-style to complement Wren Architecture.

Named after Sir Christopher Wren, the architect behind the baroque expansion of Hampton Court Palace, Wren Architecture is a detailed linework study of the palace’s East Front and Fountain Court façades. Inspired by Historic Royal Palaces’ Architectural Drawings Collection, the design is an ode to the organisation’s continued archival work and living history. Simple in palette, Wren Architecture can be paired with the geometric print of Wolsey Stars for a harmonious mix of baroque and Tudor styles made contemporary.

Merci Magazine - Late Summer and Pre-Fall 2021

Architecture & Interior Design

Gibbons Carving Gibbons Carving is a print derived from 17th century master carver, Grinling Gibbons’ distinctive style and is full of detail and depth akin to his high-relief wooden carvings. Said to have ‘an ability to breathe life into still material’, the craftsman’s unique and delicate rendering of limewood into the most elaborate of organic

structures meant he was highly favoured by royalty. In this bold decorative design, natural forms of birds and shells, scrolling foliage and the fruits of the harvest represent new life, abundance and good health, accompanied by Gibbons’ signature periwinkle-like five petal flower.

For more information, please visit* www.cole-and-son.com 17

Merci Magazine - Late Summer and Pre-Fall 2021

Design & Living

E N SU E by merci team Photos courtesy of Chris Shao Studio Photographer: Common Studio: Lit Ma & Kelly Puleio Studio

I am not only an Interior designer but also a Storyteller, said Chris Shao. Chris's design intention is simple and based on three theories: the truth of material, the loyalty to the story, and the sensor to tension. Chris was initially being born in China and a New York-based designer. He founded Chris Shao Studio LLC in 2016. While pursuing a Master of Fine Arts at the New York School of Interior Design, Chris received his first major commission to design the interiors of a multi-family project at 111 Varick Street, in the cosmopolitan neighbourhood of SoHo. His designs have been coveted for their fusion of masculine with feminine, rich fabrics with sharp contemporary silhouettes, and romantic ideals with classical stoicism. In addition, he lends a signature twist to everyday essentials. In 2018, Chris Shao opened a second design studio in Shanghai, China. His design philosophy lives in the studio's pared-back aesthetic and respect for materials while remaining avant-garde in its reinterpretations of contemporary classics. Currently, both studios have broadened their design footprints among high-end residential, hospitality, and commercial projects on an International scale. Noho Manhattan natives, Chris Shao Studio LLC started its design journey in 2017 and is credited with bringing a refreshing nuance to the Interior Design scene. The studio’s designs are imbued with naturalistic and eclectic ambiance. Citing a guiding principle of Arts & Crafts pioneer William Morris, of “truth to materials” as a key influence, the design team offers an unfussy, free-spirited vision of contemporary design, that is considered, without being pretentious. This approach has unsurprisingly won the studio a legion of clients, who covert Chris Shao Studio’s distinctive work.

Chris Shao Studio at Broadway, Bleecker Street New York City

The team at Chris Shao Studio

to design by using homogenous dark

have formed their base in New York

and neutral tones and contrasting

City, each coming from a range of

furniture styles, embellished with

distinct and distant cultures. Asian,

a growing collection of vintage

Central American and Australian

and antique artefacts. Industrial,

backgrounds influence a unique

traditional

approach to design, however conform

have been ingeniously balanced

around the same design values

throughout

of sophistication and exclusivity.

wood, zinc and linen finishes.

and the

oriental space,

styles

featuring

Diversity has assisted the studio but

Throughout his travels, Chris Shao

versatile identity that translates into

has collected a range of art, antique

every project, creating a unique and

furnishings and objects that embody

personal result for each client.

a significant story or meaning.

accomplishing

strong

From an African milking stool, to Located on Broadway, at Bleecker

Portugese Santos Cage dolls, the

Street, the design of the studio

studio represents a microcosm of

revolves

nostalgic

decorative objects that have shaped

spirit of Noho, where contemporary

a range of design styles throughout

and traditional design languages

history, and continue to influence the

converse. The studio’s loft ceilings

studio’s design language.

around

the

allows bold design ideas to naturally form. To reinterpret and reinvent one

Each piece has a unique aesthetic,

of the most artistic neighborhoods in

meaning and story that speaks for

New York City, Chris Shao Studio has

the basis of Chris Shao’s design

created a space that represents their

philosophy; “I’m not only an Interior

unique and contemporary approach

Designer, but also a Storyteller.” Chris Shao at Bhis New York Office

Merci Magazine - Late Summer and Pre-Fall 2021

Design & Living

ONE STORY • ONE DESIGN TELLING

Chris Shao Studio at Shanghai

I visited Chef Christopher Kostow in the spring of 2018 at his farm in St. Helena, CA. During our initial design briefing conversation for Ensue, he asked me “what is your definition of luxury?”. My response was that, to me, emotion evokes the greatest sense of luxury, as identifying luxury itself is a very deep and personal response to something. Chef Kostow then pointed to a tree in his farm and told me that that was his luxury. At that moment, I made up my mind that in the process of designing his restaurant I was going to bring an unpretentious naturalism into the urban landscape of Shenzhen that would be emotive, yet effortless. Inspired by the aesthetics of wabi-sabi, Chef Kostow represents his cuisine in the simplest form, but with the most intricate philosophy. In the design mechanism of Ensue, I aim to find a new emotional representation of luxury, achieved through unifying local vernacular, with contemporary ideas. A fusion of eastern ideas and philosophy, with western execution will create a space that evokes a new sense of style and elegance. This concept, executed with a wabi-sabi aesthetic that celebrates transience and imperfection, cohesively suggests “a Buddhist teaching of the three marks of existence, specifically impermanence, suffering and emptiness or absence of self-nature.” – Leonard Koren. Furthermore, the space embodies an interesting interaction between the ideas of fire and ice; two sensory, visual and conceptually jarring circumstances, that are unified in a way to create a calming sense of balance. In Ensue, I also personified many design intentions based on my Chinese upbringing. I explored the work of local artisans and manufacturers around Canton region, to rethink and redefine the modern meaning of Made-in-China in the design industry. With more pride and few disappointments, Ensue really evokes a new thinking of my culture that until now, is yet to be explored in relation to design. Being so personal, this entire process was an emotional one. This project is my new definition of “luxury”. As complicated as it may sound to you, I take great pleasure in inviting you on this journey curated by Chris Shao Studio; as the name states, to discover the emotional response that will Ensue. Chris Shao

Chris Shao Studio at Shanghai 21

Ensue The Entrance is where this Journey Starts As you enter Ensue, guests are immediately introduced to the natural landscape of Napa, along with Cantonese influences that honor the heritage of Shenzhen. Simple and natural elements engage the guest with a new experience of fine dining, by way of redefining a luxurious and opulent experience with a more naturalistic aesthetic that still embodies refined detail. A moody landscape mural that has been hand-painted by a local artist is the main feature of this dramatic entrance. It depicts a foggy scene, adorned with horsehair sconces by Apparatus, that immediately sets the tone of the restaurant - a dark, cozy and intimate setting, that allows you to only view nature as nothing but luxury. Equally as dramatic, the chandelier by Rosie Li Studio that greets guests as soon as they enter the front doors, presents another naturalist element, this time using modern elements and techniques. Floral sculptures soften the mood of the space, but are strongly defined by the use of polished brass metal. Transitioning through the entrance, a pitched shingled ceiling is reminiscent of traditional Cantonese architecture. Velvet textiles have been used in cool tones to balance the striking nature of the chandelier and stone shingles, and brings a needed softness to the space. Finally, a custom reception desk has been created to mimic deer horns, which are also featured at the front entrance as you enter from the elevator lobby. Inspired from pages in Chef Kostow’s book, these elements bring a sense of playfulness and imagery that are strongly tied with nature and the Napa countryside.

Merci Magazine - Late Summer and Pre-Fall 2021

Architecture & Interior Design

The soft glowing light from the sky when the sun is below the horizon,

that connects the double height space with the bar above, and gives

caused by the refraction and scattering of the sun’s rays from the

the feeling of the local landscape being elevated 40-floors above the

atmosphere. IT IS THE STATE OF AMBIGUITY. IT IS THE TWILIGHT IN

bustling city below.

NAPA VALLEY. To combat the rigidity of the existing architecture, curves have been In the main dining room, Ensue, a grey and neutral color palette allows

introduced into the structural design of the dining room’s ceiling. This

the food and flavor to shine. Where color is lacking, effortless detail has

curved design element to define the double height space emulates

been incorporated through millwork, wall paneling, and structure to

the idea of a flowing stream in Napa, or the coastline of Shenzhen Bay.

create a refined and sophisticated room that is the heart and soul of

Where the ceiling meets the diving wall between Dining Room and

the project.

Hallway that leads to the kitchen, the ceiling curves like a wave towards the back of the banquettes and defines this area as a cozy and intimate

The fertile nature of Shenzhen and the canton region is referenced in the space through warm lighting accents and luxurious textiles. Natural elements are also introduced into a modern design, through materials and furnishings, as well as a custom branch lighting fixture 24

Merci Magazine - Late Summer and Pre-Fall 2021

space, without the use of any vertical separation.

The atmosphere of this restaurant is heavily influenced by the idea of Twilight in Napa. Not only is the ambiance of the space enhanced during this hour, but the colors, lighting and intimacy of the Dining Room evokes that time of day just after the sun has set. The hue of the mountains translates through the color palette of the finishes and furnishings, and the custom wall sconces and banquette lightings utilize an exposed filament lamp to imitate the glow of the setting sun. Separating the banquettes from the hallway is a vertical louvered wall partition that creates an obstructed view of this passage, similar to the way that trees.

IT IS FRESH. IT IS PREVIOUS. Private Lounge of Alcove: tiny drops of water that form on cool surfaces at night, when atmospheric vapor condenses.

Merci Magazine - Late Summer and Pre-Fall 2021

A big part of designing this restaurant in the space that used to be an empty, open roof of atop the Futian Shangri-La Hotel, was making the most of this incredibly tall ceiling height that was offered at the top of the building, and maximizing the existing window exposure and phenomenal views. With a total height of 13-meters (43-feet) the program was able to include an entirely new structure to accommodate a bar and lounge, now known as Alcove. So that the Main Dining Room of Ensue could maintain the full extent of the window height, the mezzanine floor was set back to allow for the light and views to filter in. As a result, the upstairs bar and lounge is provided with a balcony to observe out and down, and the two spaces become interconnected even though their aesthetic and feel are vastly different. A custom branch light fixture hangs into the upper portion

Design & Living

of Ensue’s double height space, and is masterfully countered over the railing above, providing a singular round lamp to illuminate the first of the lounge tables that line the railing.

The selection of blue as an accent grounds the space, and is representational of dew that has trickled down from the dried leaves. This juxtaposition of dried and hydrated elements.

Even with the mezzanine floor, an enormous 7-meter (22 feet) glass ceiling sits above the bar, whose height is enhanced by vertical glass panels with elongated linear design detail. Because of the abundance of natural light, a light wood has been used throughout to capture the essence of dawn; the first light of the day. At nighttime, during Alcove’s peak operating hours, the lightness of materials allows for exaggerated low-level lighting to create a moody and intimate setting in such an expansive space.

A ‘secret’ area exists on the 3rd Floor, where clients can access two private rooms from the mezzanine. Interaction with tangible design stories is important for guests, as it creates a more personal and unique experience, beyond the service of food and cocktails. It is at the highest point of the Restaurant that this notion is ultimately realized.

Private Lounge of Alcove: tiny drops of water that form on cool surfaces at night, when atmospheric vapor condenses. IT IS FRESH. IT IS PREVIOUS. A new design language is introduced in the second private dining room, through more rigid and linear forms, and a departure from a saturation of rich tones throughout the room. Overall, the style is more relaxed featuring a lounge seating arrangement and family-style 8-seat round table, yet still maintains a level of refinement through the grand double height structure and glass surround. In this room exists the idea of Mountain Dew, named as such after the essence of Dawn. Traditional Chinese cooks would collect dew in the morning from water lilies, and make tea for their guests during the day. It is regarded as the most luxurious natural ingredient for beverages, because of its pure nature.

Guests walk up a white marble stairs with custom designed railing, where each iron post forms a flower bud. Ascending the stairs with this railing in hand, is reminiscent of farmers and cooks collecting dew from their land. Upon arrival, the first and only feature of the landing is a bookcase, in disguise. Various objects and compartments comprise this speakeasy door, that operates by pressing a lone book on the far left. This leads to what is best described as a reading room, showcasing books on a custom display stand that allows for large books to lay open and encourage reading. The wall at which this display is located adjoins the double height space from where the dried leaf and dew fixture now hangs at eye level, and showcases a view of the private Dining Room and falling dew, below. The second private room on this level similarly features a custom book display and lounge seating, in more traditional Chinese blue and white palette.

The feature of this space is a dried leaf hanging from above. On the counter side of Mountain Dew came the inspiration of dried flora and fauna; elemental design ideas that were introduced by Chef Kostow’s direction of creating a wabi-Sabi environment.

https://www.chrisshaostudio.com/ 27

Merci Magazine - Late Summer and Pre-Fall 2021

The Memory of Stones by merci team Photos courtesy of Culture in Architecture

‘The Memory of Stones’ is a collection centred around the idea of concrete poetry, a quest as ancient as the world. Beautifying the scars left on the Vicenza stone slabs where the marble is cut and tailored, the brutalist fragments, often unseen, are elevated to the status of noble material. The scorched surfaces become objects of desire; they make a series of unique pieces with transplanted marble inserts. Transformed and grafted, the marble continues the invisible relationship with the Vicenza stone where its alteration occurred, inducing a certain ‘mystique of materiality.’ The functional sculptures, made from elementary shapes and tailored rough surfaces, integrate an upcycling approach, revealing the raw beauty of stone extracted from the quarry and combined with handpicked discarded marble fragments.

The collection is a play between scarification and primary constructions, where texture and time bind together man-made memory and spontaneous beauty, echoing the connection between man and nature itself, like abstract calligraphy. The material conversation evokes a contemporary poetic vision with elements of the past. The title, ‘The Memory of Stones’, echoes the texts of Roger Caillois ‘The Writing of Stones and ‘Reading the Stones’, and his original vision infused with surrealism, science, aesthetics, myths and literature, transcending his fascination for the mineral world, a passion shared by architect Aline Asmar d’Amman.

‘The Memory of Stones’ is born from inspirational complicity between two women, architect Aline Asmar d’ Amman, founder of "Culture in Architecture" and marble tailor Deborah Morseletto, the third generation of Laboratorio Morseletto, in Vicenza, during one of their numerous collaborations and endless conversations around the scorched beauty of stone and marble. The pieces were photographed in the heart of the quarry where the Vicenza stone was extracted from, Cava Arcari, in the Berici hills of Vicenza, Veneto, northern Italy.

Merci Magazine - Late Summer and Pre-Fall 2021

Architecture & Interior Design

About : Laboratorio Morseletto Marble tailors Globally renowned as marble tailors, Laboratorio Morseletto, combines an industrial dimension in terms of production capacity, with an artisanal approach

About : Aline Asmar d’Amman

providing high-quality craftsmanship. The century-old family-run company’s expertise and mastery of execution

Architect, and the Founder of Culture in Architecture – Beirut and Paris Aline

is constantly enriched thanks to new collaborations with

Asmar d’Amman is the architect and interior designer behind Culture in

international leading design and interior architecture

Architecture, a design studio based in Beirut and in Paris, committed to

figures. Under the impulsion of Barbara and Deborah

bridging cultures while balancing the past with the present. The international

Morseletto, the company is moving towards more

firm has been at the helm of several iconic interior projects, including the

complex structures and ambitious projects. Today,

re-opening of Hôtel de Crillon in Paris and the renovation the Eiffel Tower’s

the workshop has become a genuine centre of cultural

gastronomic restaurant Le Jules Verne. The architect has collaborated with icon

confluence in the sector, a constant attraction for those

Karl Lagerfeld on hospitality projects and on a collection of functional marble

who see stone as a sculptural medium to express their

sculptures “Architectures”, showcased at the Carpenters Workshop Gallery.

creativity.

Currently involved in the renovation of Palazzo Dona Giovannelli, Rosewood Venice, and other developments in Asia,

Web: morseletto.com

Europe and the Middle East, Aline Asmar d’Amman cultivates narrative statements born from the intricate dialog of the raw and the precious, heritage and modernity, poetry and materiality. Web: cultureinarchitecture.com

Instagram: @alineasmardamman #cultureinarchitecture 31

A feeling called Home Photos courtesy of Brabbu

Assuming that home is a lot more than space, "City Home Collective", the company responsible for this Park City House, wanted to do something exceptional with this project, creating a meaningful feeling to the client: a place where he belongs. The prime objective of this design firm is to match people with unique spaces, working with high-skilled designers, such as Helena Morozoff, the senior designer responsible for this Park City project, which prospects smart design with no boundaries. As a result, the strategy here was to let the material drive the design, always opting for the most comfortable furnishing, choosing and combining materials that speak to each other, which made this warm, tactile and visual feeling of a retreat possible. City Home Collective placed our BRABBU´S ESSEX Swivel Chair next to the sofa, adding charisma and sophistication to the living room and creating a sense of casualness and harmony. This perfect combination of neutral tones and patterns contributed to the arising of this cozy and monochromatic space, filled with elegance and uniqueness, allowing the area to evolve over time. In a nutshell, City Home Collective believes that “life is better when you love where you live,” so they designed this house as the perfect place to relax, reconnect and recharge. That is why home is so much more than space; it is definitely a feeling.

Merci Magazine - Late Summer and Pre-Fall 2021

Architecture & Interior Design

Metamorphosis is the transformation process from caterpillar to butterfly. It inspired the creation of ESSEX Swivel Chair. This barrel chair is upholstered in velvet and has a base in brushed aged brass matte that adds charisma. It will add refined elegance to any living room set that only velvet chairs are capable of. https://www.brabbu.com/ 33

summer aloha For Hawaiians, there's the "Aloha Spirit," a unique way of living, the ultimate lifestyle, or the secret to a fulfilling life. How to create the perfect mood for elegant but fun outdoor living? It is all about illuminate lighting. Lighting is one of the most effective design elements when creating

Marlon Floor Lamp

your perfect outdoor living space!

Marlon Floor Lamp Mezzo's designers were inspired by the art deco style and created a unique floor lamp. The Marlon floor lamp is a powerful piece that doesn't go unnoticed. Marlon comprises a cylindrical gold-plated structure surrounded by four white paint metal modules giving it elegance. At the top, the glass structure ensures maximum lighting. Marlon floor lamp is perfect for combining in a lounge area, or living room, next to an armchair or sofa. 34

Merci Magazine - Late Summer and Pre-Fall 2021

Marlon Floor Lamp

Architecture & Interior Design

Marlon Floor Lamp "Douglas floor lamp" is a vintage floor lamp that will enhance any space. The white paint and gold-plated metal structure give height to the floor lamp, making it a robust piece that evokes the mid-century style.

Merci Magazine - Late Summer and Pre-Fall 2021

Architecture & Interior Design

Merci Magazine - Late Summer and Pre-Fall 2021

Architecture & Interior Design

THE MUSHROOM A WOOD HOUSE IN THE FOREST By Merci Team

Photo credits: Fangfang Tian, ZJJZ The Mushroom is located in a pine forest. Thus handling the relationship between nature and architecture became the fundamental approach of our design. The architectural form of the Mushroom is composed of two simple volumes according to the functions:

The main of the Mushroom is the guest room space, with a panoramic window set up near the viewing height. When sitting on chairs or leaning on the bed, the guests are immersed in the surrounding nature. The loft serves as a child area, linked by the small-scale stairs. The pure white cone-shaped roof is rounded on top, creating a sense of unbounded extension to space. The bathroom and storage space are arranged in a simple rectangular volume, inserted into the Mushroom's main body. A horizontal window is designed next to the bathtub, blocking passing by pedestrians a view inside to to protect the privacy of the user while welcoming the normal light inside. Meanwhile, the circular skylight at the top introduces different expressions of light and shadows with the change of time and weather. This poetic space also serves as the entrance lobby of the house, where the guests often visit and linger.

Merci Magazine - Late Summer and Pre-Fall 2021

The Mushroom house adopts a lifted steel structure to minimize the impact of construction on the site. As time goes by, green plants on the ground will gradually spread to embrace the building. The cone-shaped roof is cladded with pine woods, while the rest of the house is coated with granolithic concrete. The material changes in colour with humidity and time, allowing the building to harmonize with the surrounding natural environment.

Project information Project name: The Mushroom - a wood house in the forest Architect’s Firm: ZJJZ Lead Architects: Sean Shen, Xuanru Chen, Yuying Kate Tsai Project location: Jiangxi, China Completion Year: 2020 Gross Built Area (square meters or square foot): 50 m2 Client: TREE WOW Structure Consultant: XIE Technologies Contractor: Zhejiang Huzhou deyi Construction Co., Ltd.

THE ARENA PAPI RESTAURANT Photos courtesy of "Nuri&Hu"

Nestled in the Grands Boulevards district of Paris’ 9th arrondissement, Papi is the latest brainchild of up-andcoming restaurateur Etienne Ryckeboer, following the success of his debut seafood bar Bulot Bulot. This time, he teams up with "Neri&Hu" to rehaul the façade and interior space and with talented Japanese chef Akira Sugiura to serve a seasonal menu of modern Italian dishes.

Merci Magazine - Late Summer and Pre-Fall 2021

Located on the ground floor of a typical

the interior, portions of the old limestone

late 19th century Haussmann building,

and brick walls, a raw steel column, and a

Neri&Hu’s design concept celebrates the

brick column are preserved and integrated

layered material heritage that narrates

into the design. On the façade, an existing

Parisian history. During the dismantling

steel I-beam lintel is featured, while a

phase, the existing site was treated

segment of the old stone moulding by the

carefully; by stripping back the strata of

entry is left exposed, stitching the façade

finishes that have built up through the

seamlessly to the neighboring building.

decades, the beauty of the bare materials

Each fragment represents a different

is revealed. Every single existing element

period in Paris’ history, forming a beautiful

was meticulously examined, and the

yet imposing canvas for the architects to

challenge was in resisting the urge to fix

add their new strokes.

every imperfection, to instead honor the imprint of time upon each surface. Within 44

Merci Magazine - Late Summer and Pre-Fall 2021

Architecture & Interior Design

The new raw-steel-framed fully-operable glass façade maintains a

while inviting guests into cross gazes. The spatial and material

visual continuity between the street and the venue, and effectively

strategies deployed create a layered reading against the historical

extends the public realm into the interior. As guests enter the space

backdrop, offering guests a variety of experiences to explore within the

through the main door, they see the clash of juxtaposing old and new

space - moments of both public introversion and private extroversion.

materials, telling a story of sophistication with fresh textures of tile, glass and wood. Mirrors are placed strategically to create dynamic perspectives and voyeuristic moments between interior and exterior,

http://www.neriandhu.com/en 45

Living in “Craft Comfort” Text by Miki Numata

Translation by Suzi Yamaguchi Photographs by Teruaki Kawakami, Takuya Furusue Recipe & Styling by Saiko Hashimoto Photos courtesy of R100 Tokyo

Merci Magazine - Late Summer and Pre-Fall 2021

The Comforts of Home Each house holds a story of its inhabitants; a real life scene with an underwritten script. The following is from a series of short stories that depict scenes from the enriched lifestyles of the residents of R100 TOKYO. In this installment, we would like to give you a peek at the story of our home; the inhabitants are my wife, who is an aromatherapist, and me, an owner of an IT company, along with our treasured Japanese folk art and old household items lovingly exhibited. This first scene is a weekend afternoon where we have the pleasure of entertaining guests. We are surrounded by my wife’s delicious vegan cuisine and enjoying the serenity of the moment. A clock ticks softly in the background while a large MINO, a traditional Japanese straw garment hanging ornamentally in the living room appears to be watching over the gathering.

Hanging on the wall is an Aomori "Date Gera", a mino garment. It is said that they competed for the most beautiful pattern around the neck.

BALANCE

Balanced Living: Boosting Happiness and Creativity Weekend lunch with a friend and his wife My wife, inspired, suddenly suggests, “shall we invite someone to have lunch with us on Sunday?” I had not cleaned the house since the traditional end of year cleaning (in Japan), so I thought it would be a good idea to do so, and at the same time, I could also organize my study, killing two birds with one stone. My wife has recently started to learn how to cook vegan cuisine. Her hobbies have apparently expanded from aromatherapy, her main business, to include dyeing and weaving with plant dyes, cooking with natural ingredients, and making sweets. In the past year I have been working from home more and more, so we have been spending more time together than ever before. Perhaps my wife is getting a bit fed up with this, but I am grateful for the change of pace, and it has a positive (and delicious) effect on me!

Merci Magazine - Late Summer and Pre-Fall 2021

R100 Tokyo Curiosity Magazine x Merci Magazine Life Scene with a Story

“I have to start with a welcome fragrance", she excitedly announces, taking over the bedroom in the morning to do what is in my opinion a chemical experiment. It is her theory that the first thing to welcome a guest is the fragrance. “There, it's done! Bergamot, mint and lemongrass for early summer,” she notes. “Wow, that's refreshing. And it also seems delicious,” I chime in, swept up in her enthusiasm. “Yes, that's important!” she calls back pleased with herself. The vegetables we order weekly from the farmer have arrived and they are clearly freshly harvested and fragrant. It was a pleasant surprise for me to be able to really feel the seasons just by the contents of this regularly delivered box, as prior to this time, I was mainly facing a computer in an office in the middle of the city. “Excellent vegetables! Now I'm feeling inspired, so let's get cooking,” chirps my wife. The aroma coming from the kitchen smells wonderful. Vegetables, herbs, spices and aromas combine to make me feel like I'm in a foreign country.

Surrender your heart to the pleasure of working with your hands. “I'm going to get some tidying up done. If you need someone to taste test, don't hesitate to call me,” I tease before tending the cleaning. Surrender your heart to the pleasure of working with your hands. I was born into a family of multi-generational farmers. Our lifestyle was for the most part easygoing, but after moving to Tokyo for university I became an IT enthusiast and decided to become a programmer. Now, the company I set up with my friends is doing well and has a good number of employees, so I am busy. I am not dissatisfied with this life, and it is fulfilling, but in this digital world that is constantly evolving and moving, I sometimes find myself missing the lifestyle left behind.

folk art and daily utensils handed down from generation to generation. When I interact with such things, I can feel the presence of people, I feel calm and relaxed. The power of the human hand, the warmth of the hand, has a power that cannot be measured by numbers. “Would you like a taste of my beans?” my wife calls. “I'd love to!” I exclaim. “I like them a little on the soft side, don't you?” She queries. “They are boiled just right. I like them simple. In fact, I could drink to that,” I chide. “That's all you think about. It's only noon!” She teases back easily.

It was at this time that I first opened my eyes to handicrafts. Handicrafts made by concentrating on the sensations of the hands, craftsmanship learned naturally by heart,

(2)

The recipes for the vegan food featured in this article will be available in the recipe section of the next issue of magazine. Nourish your body and soul with a menu rich with colourful vegetables. For starters ground fava bean soup, followed by spring cabbage and steamed carrots marinated in dill, sautéed mushrooms with wild rice and dried tomato sauce, orange lentils and brown rice with azuki beans. A platter of cobb salad with salted malt dressing and fried tofu croquettes and pinto beans round out the feast.

Symmetry Making Time to Eat Right! Nourish your life and soul

There was another reason for inviting our guest today. I wanted to show a friend of mine who works with antiques, this clock that I recently acquired. This clock, called "Yatagarasu", has a timeless story. The Nixie tube, once used all over the world, died out in the 1990s. The oldest digital display in history has been revived and beautifully restored by Yatagarasu! It’s a work of art created by craftsmanship and technology. As someone who works with digital technology, I was shaken when I heard this story. “How is that clock you’re so proud of doing?” My wife calls out. “It’s perfect, Displaying the time perfectly in a beautiful orange hue.” I proudly call back.” "Well then it's almost lunchtime. Will you set the table? She requests, eager to deliver a glorious meal. “Yes, ma'am!” I say as I hop to the task. Today's menu is focused on colourful vegetables. We begin with ground fava bean soup, followed by spring cabbage (resembling a steak) and steamed carrots marinated in dill, sautéed mushrooms with wild rice and dried tomato sauce, orange lentils and brown rice with azuki beans. A platter of cobb salad with salted malt dressing and fried tofu croquettes and pinto beans round out the feast. “Is this all vegan? No meat, no fish?” Our guest inquires. “Yes, it is. I'm a bit addicted these days. Please enjoy it.” I respond eager to tuck in. I've known my friend, who runs a small gallery selling antiques and folk art, for about five years. We met when I was drawn to the Mino garment that was on display in his shop when I dropped in, and that's

Merci Magazine - Late Summer and Pre-Fall 2021

when I bought it. His wife is a textile artist and also my wife's dyeing and weaving teacher. As we enjoyed the meal my friend commented, "I'm glad to see that you've kept the Date Gera (Mino garment) on display. It looks much better than when it was in the shop. You collect a lot of things, don't you? From folk tools to art, it's like a gallery.” “Oh, a compliment from a professional,” I must admit I felt pleased by the remark. “The clock under the Mino is a bit unusual, I hope you'll take time to have a look at it later.” It's nice to have a relaxed meal with friends who have similar tastes to your own. And I realize the importance of meeting people in person. These days we work remotely and have meetings over the screen. It's a wonderful evolution to be able to communicate in real time with people who are far away, but it's only when we meet face to face that we can truly interact. Our guests were full of compliments after the meal. “We had so much food and it was really delicious. You are a very good cook. I would like to learn from you next time,” my friend’s wife graciously exclaimed. “Thank you for the delicious meal, I am so full. It was beyond my expectation for a restaurant,” my friend added. Beaming my wife replied, "Oh, thank you. It was worth the effort then. After dinner let’s have a cup of tea over there. It's not quite medicinal, but I have prepared a tea that will help your digestion after your meal.”

R100 Tokyo Curiosity Magazine x Merci Magazine Life Scene with a Story

Relaxed meals with friends! 51

A comfortable place to live in

Merci Magazine - Late Summer and Pre-Fall 2021

R100 Tokyo Curiosity Magazine x Merci Magazine Life Scene with a Story

HARMONY There was a time when I spent most of my time at work and only came home to sleep. I spend most of my time at work and only sleep at home. There were days like that in the past. And while I believe that this is also an important experience, I now truly feel how important it is to have a comfortable home to live in. Whether you are working or living, the temperature and texture of the air created by a place will deeply affect you. When I experience the comfort of living surrounded by things that match my wavelength, I am convinced that this is where I belong, and I feel at ease. For me, this is living with crafts and folk art that are made by human hands and that speak to me. I was a little intimidated by that front at first, but now I feel at home. It looks like it's really comfortable. The gentle light of early summer warmly illuminated our room. Do you want to discover what the R100 Tokyo Curiosity Magazine is? Please visit https://r100tokyo.com/ 53

A PLACE TO CALL HOME Interview by Peggy Lui Copywriter by Suzi Yamaguchi Photos courtesy of AB Concept

Merci Magazine - Late Summer and Pre-Fall 2021

Architecture & Interior Design

Merci Magazine - Late Summer and Pre-Fall 2021

Architecture & Interior Design

It was a quiet rainy day when Terence picked me up at the Karuizawa JR station, a normally bustling tourist destination. I felt a pang of desolation seeing that many shops are still temporarily closed in the downtown area because of the pandemic. Terence suggested, “why don't we buy some dessert and go home for the interview!“. There is no reason for me to turn down such an offer because Japanese desserts are really delicious, I mean ‘really delicious’. I could say it is heaven living in Japan with all the different kinds of amazing desserts, that is if you like sweets. During the pandemic, Ed Ng and Terence Ngan, the founders of Hong Kong-based interior architectural studio AB Concept, escaped to their cottage in Karuizawa, Japan. Karuizawa, situated in the south-eastern part of Nagano Prefecture, is a haven for lovers of beautiful mountainous views, serene nature, and mysterious history. "We didn't know the pandemic would have us stay here this long, and although Japan used to be our favorite place in the world, we didn't expect to stay here for good. So many things have changed. Through this experience, I discovered that I love to take photos of nature and am now geared up with a full set of equipment for photography. I have developed various new hobbies, I have even learned to do yoga now,” said Terence.

The lifestyle that used to drive us has changed. We no longer have a need to wear bespoke tailored shirts to business meetings, and we now spend more time doing things we enjoy. Karuizawa is located on a plateau in a beautiful natural environment at the foot of Mount Asama and boasts a vibrant creative community, attracting an array of artisans and international inhabitants. They engaged a local architect to design the stylish timber and stone 200 sq m two-story three-bedroom chalet nestled in the mountain in the luscious forest. After removing my shoes at the traditional Japanese genkan, I was welcomed into the open-plan living and dining area separated from the kitchen with a marble island bench. I immediately felt the comforts of a mountain chalet with the natural tones and scent of the cedar walls and ceiling. The high ceilings and expansive windows taking full advantage of the spectacular views which momentarily took my breath away.

Merci Magazine - Late Summer and Pre-Fall 2021

The interior is an eclectic mix of antique and modern,

In order to make the most of the breathtaking

sprinkled with arts and ceramics sourced from local

180-degree views, they built a 50 sq m deck furnished

artisans and a collection of objects and trinkets:

with Sebastian Herkner Mbrace chairs and Corten

memorabilia from their adventures to different parts of the globe. The dining table was designed by architect George Nakashima and overlooking the dining table

steel fireplace from the Netherlands. I felt like I was floating above the forest as I cherished the euphoria of feeling my body in union with the elements, recharged by the energy only nature can induce.

is a stunning painting by Finnish artist Juri Markkula: RGB Series (Blue) (2015). I was especially drawn to the

Ng mentioned that they have purchased the adjoining

circle wood feature laid by the window as it signified

plot of land where they will be building a larger

infinity which is how I felt in this space. I could stay

residence, leaving the chalet for friends and family. I

here forever - infinite.

look forward to visiting their new abode to report back in the near future. https://www.abconcept.net 61

UNVEILING 70,000 YEARS OF TERRESTRIAL HISTORY

THE VARVE MUSEUM Interview by Suzi Yamaguchi, Peggy Lui Photos courtesy of Nomura Kogei

Merci Magazine - Late Summer and Pre-Fall 2021

Fukui Prefectural Varve Museum, situated near Lake Suigetsu, opened in September 2018 as the world's first museum dedicated to varves. Varves are thin bands of sediment deposited annually in glacial lakes, each consisting of a light and dark layer, representing one of the most important and illuminating clues to understanding past climate change, as well as the ancient natural environment. These varves from Lake Suigetsu – which date back 70,000 years – are the world’s longest. After much scientific investigation, they have become pivotal to age determination studies and as an independent test of radiocarbon dating. In July 2012, at the International Radiocarbon Conference held at UNESCO Headquarters, research results obtained using varves from Lake Suigetsu were verified against radiocarbon dating. This elevated varve chronology to the geographical equivalent of Greenwich Mean Time, and it is now used as a global standard measure in archaeology and geology. 63

the landscape that traces time The Fukui Prefectural Varve Museum in Japan was opened in September 2018 as the world's first museum dedicated to exhibiting varves. Varves, also known as ‘annually laminated sediments’, are thin bands of sediment found in glacial lakes, each consisting of a light and a dark layer deposited at different times of the year. Varves represent one of the most important and illuminating clues to understanding past climate change, as well as what the ancient natural environment was like, and are now accepted as an accurate measure for age determination. Nomura and Naito Architect & Associates's aim when designing the Varve Museum was to go beyond the traditional museum setting, which usually confines exhibits inside a building. Instead, we chose to integrate the museum with the surrounding landscape, creating a spacious and open structure that affords stunning views of the lakeside scenery. We positioned the whole building as a showcase, with wide overhanging eaves and UV-prevention film that coats the window glass and sashes. The main exhibition gallery is built in a beautiful cloister style and, as a world-first, features a 45-metre-long varve panel on one wall that archives 70,000 years of the earth’s history. High-tech German polishing and cutting technology enabled the fashioning of thin plates, 64

Merci Magazine - Late Summer and Pre-Fall 2021

less than 0.1 millimetres thick, which were then coated in epoxy resin, mounted between two glass panes and backlit to maximum effect. The elaborate technique has resulted in a unique and breathtaking display of shining stripes, like illuminated stained glass. The 100 bars of varve are set against a backdrop of spectacular scenery, ancient lakes and the sun. The exhibit changes colour throughout the day with the shifting reflections of light and the hue of nature. Other exhibits, which are constantly updated as new scientific evidence emerges, trace the history of human development over the same 70,000-year period; showcase varves and fossils from various regions overseas; explain the mechanisms that created the varves and the role played by Lake Suigetsu’s varves in advancing agedetermination standards; and provide opportunities to learn more about anthropology, geology and paleoclimatology, particularly through the examination of high-definition pollen samples. The museum also exhibits measures for age determination other than varves, including ice, tree rings and radio carbon dating techniques. We also have a special display of the bones of Naumann’s elephant (Palaeoloxodon naumanni), which lived in Southern Japan about 500,000 to 15,000 years ago. In addition, the museum houses a children’s learning section, a café and a museum shop.

Architecture & Interior Design

The main exhibition gallery features an open-plan setting with full-length windows and wide overhanging eaves. To protect the exhibits, the glass and sashes of the windows are coated with UV-prevention film.

The Ritsumeikan University Satellite Lab, which operates in the museum annex and where visitors can observe ongoing varve research, ensures the museum is at the forefront of scientific research and information. Researchers regularly hold talks and seminars in the café and during evening museum programs, attracting not just those from the national and international scientific and academic communities, but also lay visitors from all over the world who are keen to learn more about the history, wonder and beauty of our planet. The Varve Museum thus serves both local and global communities, not only as a place to gather but also as an educational institution. It has also boosted the district’s social and economic health – within the first six months of the museum’s opening, 30,000 visitors were recorded, giving new life and a new future to this remote location. The varves of Lake Suigetsu are a remarkable resource and gift to the world, while local residents are proud of their ancient lake and its world-recognized academic asset, considering them to be priceless treasures.

uncovering the varves of lake suigetsu

The varves from nearby Lake Suigetsu are now known to date back 70,000 years. They are the longest in the world and have been formed without missing a single year. Thanks to a unique coalescence of geological, geographical and topographical features, Lake Suigetsu – known as the ‘miracle lake’ – has proven to be the ideal location from which to obtain scientifically viable samples of annually formed varves. Lake Suigetsu’s varves were first investigated in 1991, when cores revealed a tight correlation between varve count date (the number of varves) and radiocarbon derived dates of organics in the layers. In 2006, a major scientific drilling operation was undertaken, during which time core samples were taken from four different spots. For over 30 years, 66

Merci Magazine - Late Summer and Pre-Fall 2021

Japanese and international researchers have measured the correlations between radiocarbon C14 dating and varve chronology. In July 2012, at the International Radiocarbon Conference held at UNESCO Headquarters, research results obtained using varves from Lake Suigetsu were verified against radiocarbon dating. This elevated varve chronology to the geographical equivalent of Greenwich Mean Time, and it is now used as a global standard measure in archaeology and geology.

Enclosed by the interview with the designers, Sho Inanobe from Nomura and the architect Kohei Shono from Naito Architect & Associates, they worked together for three years to complete their vision of The Varve Museum.

Were there any challenges during the design process of the Varve museum? Sho Inanobe, Nomura The biggest challenge was how to create a museum that would attract and entertain visitors at Suigetsu Lake, which is part of a designated national scenic area in a beautiful, out-of-the-way location. It was almost a forgotten spot in Japan. We had to provide a memorable experiential exhibition for viewing what looks like simple plates of soil samples, so visitors felt it was worth visiting this remote area. This was the biggest challenge we had but it turns out that this museum has attracted more than 30,000 visitors in six months since its opening. Many people from outside the prefecture and overseas (including many researchers from around the world) were visiting the museum until the COVID-19 pandemic immobilized the world. Kohei Shono, Naito Architect & Associates As for architecture, we had two challenges; the first one was how to address and incorporate the local climate and conditions of the Wakasa-cho area, and the other was to produce the most suitable spatial design to exhibit the varves. As for the climate, Wakasa-cho is surrounded by a rich natural landscape in Satoyama where sometimes disasters occur such as flooding and heavy snowfall. Snowfall can sometimes be up to two meters (equivalent to the weight of a big truck), so we had to make sure the building structure was sturdy enough to withstand the natural conditions. We opted for a hybrid structure using a combination of wood, steel, and concrete. As a countermeasure to protect the treasured varve exhibition from flooding, we decided to consolidate the exhibits on the second floor. So we utilized pilotis to elevate the building and created an open space on the first floor to not only incorporate flooding countermeasures but also allow visitors to feel a sense of organic unity with the beautiful landscape. This is the architectural approach we took to harmonize with nature and the naturally occurring conditions. The next challenge was how to display the varves for the exhibit. The exhibit features a 45-meter-long varve panel on one wall that archives 70,000 years of the earth’s

history which cannot be divided, so we designed a 45 meter RC wall to display the varve panels. We also had to consider how to display the chronological description of the varves. So we had to think about two spatial designs to differentiate the two spaces. One was for the varves themselves so we wanted to create a symbolic or sacred space where visitors could focus on the exhibit of the varves. We placed the RC wall eccentric from the center so one-third of the space exhibited the varves panels and then the backside of the wall (two-thirds of the space) is where all of the additional descriptions are displayed. By making this distinctive differentiation between the varves display and the additional descriptions, visitors can comfortably browse around the wider area enjoying the showcase of historical information, including measures for age determination other than varves, including ice, tree rings, and radiocarbon dating techniques. Varves and fossils from various regions overseas are also on display. Although it is a large space under one roof, I believe that we have created a space with two characteristics, such as a "front and back" and "sacred and profane". This is a unique part of our architectural design and we are very proud of the finished product. The Varve Museum is the world's first museum dedicated to varves. How did you implement your design to share and create interest among the general public to understand varves. Sho Inanobe, Nomura Varves are one of the more recent research agendas, so not many people are aware of them but in this generation, an explanation of varves is included in school textbooks so the younger generation is more likely to know about them. In this era of the internet, information is readily available through a quick internet search. So the important mindset we have to have when we design and build exhibition spaces, is how do we motivate the public to visit, and how can we offer value that cannot be experienced without actually visiting the museum site. For this project, we believed that the point of interest to attract people is that a piece of soil can give us clues to the ancient history and stories of the natural environment and climate change. Because the varves were extracted from

the adjoining Suigetsu Lake, the scenery is part of the exhibition, and this is the only place you can visit to experience varves. I believe that this is the only museum in Japan where the landscape is integrated into the exhibition through the interior, architectural and operational design. That was the intent we had in mind when building this facility and hope it will be cherished by people for at least the next 100 years.

interview

Architecture & Interior Design

an architectural scale made of steel and wood, and a human scale such as exhibition furniture and furniture in the space. Each has different characteristics and spaciousness, so it is designed with attention paid to every detail such as the joints, while trying to harmonize the whole. How do you incorporate "harmonizing" in your design philosophy, and how did you achieve it in this project? Sho Inanobe, Nomura As for the display design, the star of the project is the contents, the varves. But in this case, because the building is situated in a scenic area by the lake, providing a natural exhibition, they were equally valued in this project. If we made the museum an enclosed building it would not harmonize with the natural surroundings so we believe the open design consolidated the architecture, exhibition, and landscape to achieve this. So together our Nomura/Naito architect teams discussed in detail how the museum’s open-plan can harmonize with the natural landscape, not interfering with the natural light and preventing damage to the assets. We paid careful attention to the multiple functions for research and conservation of the collection when opening the museum to the public. Kohei Shono, Naito Architect & Associates In terms of architectural design, we place importance on promoting the essence of the exhibition building and the time that people shared in the location which encapsulates the history and culture of the building. So we research and consider these elements in our designs. In addition, we try to understand and interact with the local people, culture, and elements related to the time and place so we can naturally design in harmony.

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Which was the most exciting part of the design in the Varve museum project? Sho Inanobe, Nomura As for the exhibition interior design, the single most important point was to make the exhibits look as beautiful as possible. It’s just mere soil samples but we wanted to make the stripes stand out so thinly sliced samples were mounted between two glass panes, then illuminated by an exhibition technique that transmits light. It looks like stained glass. This method preserves valuable real specimens in resin and makes the delicate stripes visible. The stripes include leaf fossils, volcanic ash, and earthquake and flood traces. By analyzing the data, the annual stripes are useful for understanding the changes in plant ecosystems and climate in the past, and the history of the world. We all became Merci Magazine - Late Summer and Pre-Fall 2021

invested in presenting this magnificent research in the most beautiful way. We even extracted some pollen particles using optical technology and a 3D printer to create a life-size version of a pollen ball to inspire and intrigue the visitors. Kohei Shono, Naito Architect & Associates As for architectural design, the most exciting part was the interior of the exhibition. This building needed to harmonize with the natural landscape, and also be sturdy enough to withstand any potential natural disasters. We used a civil engineering technology rarely used in architecture (usually for bridges) to strengthen the entire body of the concrete structure to withstand heavy snowfall or floods. The most challenging part was finding a balance

between the enormous civil engineering scale of the RC section, the architectural scale made of steel and wood, then the human scale including fixtures and furniture in the interior spaces ranging from small sizes to fragile exhibits that need to be protected. Each has different characteristics, and although technologically we could have entwined the structures together, as a design element we deliberately separated the civil engineering work necessary for a strong structure from the delicate design focussed structures to make a more elegant and sophisticated design. It is designed with attention paid to minute details maintaining harmony within the whole structure.

Architecture & Interior Design

Do you have any recent or cultural projects coming in 2021 and 2022? Sho Inanobe, Nomura Utilizing my experience from the Varve Museum, I would like to be involved with establishing ‘local identity or civic pride’: engaging in work that gives the local people more pride and a feeling of belonging in their areas. I would like to express it in design work that brings prosperity to the region. We are working on projects such as aquariums, science museums, and libraries that have similar natural environments. I would also like to apply museum design thinking to different projects. One of the projects I was in charge of is the Oarai Aquarium in Ibaraki Prefecture where we created a bar where customers are surrounded by fish art and art specimens of fish, whales, and dolphins. It is a space to enjoy drinking and eating while discussing environmental issues and so on.

Kohei Shono, Naito Architect & Associates One of the current projects I am involved in is the Rikuzentakata City Museum currently under construction in Rikuzentakata City, Iwate Prefecture. This year marks 10 years since the Great East Japan Earthquake, and this project aims to reconstruct two museums devastated by the tsunami, into one museum in the central area of a hill. In addition, collections and exhibits (Important Cultural Properties) that were immersed in seawater by the tsunami will be desalinated and displayed in this facility. The goal is to create a place that can generate a sense of mobility in cooperation with the city. There is no place where you can see the ocean from the center of town due to the breakwater. It is a solid building that protects important cultural properties, but it aims to be a place that is open to the city. Therefore, we designed the

rooftop area of this facility to provide a place where people can freely walk around the city and enjoy the view of the ocean and nature in a roundabout way.

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THE OCEAN BREEZE

at Hiyoriyama Coast Museum

Merci Magazine - Late Summer and Pre-Fall 2021

Architecture & Interior Design

Interview by Peggy Lui Photos courtesy of Nomura Kogei In 2019, Hiyoriyama Coast Museum opened in the GeoPark located in Hyogo Pref., north-west of Honshu Island, Japan, adjacent to the Kinosaki Marine World - a marine research aquarium facility with 300 species in 7,000 varieties being nurtured, bred and protected. The museum exhibits the work of the species preservation and learnings from life in nature and aims to protect the earth's wild animals and pass them on to the next generation. Nomura from Japan contributed in the overarching creative direction, from developing a business concept, basic plan, architecture, interior space, exhibition, signage, outdoor space, and admission ticket design. Nomura’s high design quality manifested the Museum’s dedicated attitude towards life and disseminated it to visitors and improved the brand value of Kinosaki Marine World. 71

The exhibition concept of the Hiyoriyama Museum was “Storyteller” - to share stories by zookeepers on reproductive activities that sustain lives The design team's focus was to illuminate only the essence of information of what was wanted to be delivered by elaborating on the balance of the entire space, space between the texts, colour, moulding tone, and signage. They took advantage of the museum's location along the coast and had the gallery space incorporate the Sea of Japan through the window as a borrowing landscape into a livingexhibit. The foot bath bench using the local hot springs represented a unique style of hospitality to visitors whilst offering them a panoramic view of the sea. The designers paid extra careful consideration to the explanation texts and video contents of what was being exhibited in a common format so they would read and sound as if the zookeepers were talking to the visitors in person.

Merci Magazine - Late Summer and Pre-Fall 2021

Architecture & Interior Design

interview

The architecture of the Hiyoriyama Museum was also designed by Nomura, correct? If so, can you explain a little bit about the structure and the design of the building?

the aquarium, we also introduced “The Stock Breeding Project” as an activity related to the life of the city of Toyooka, which has contributed to the improvement of the city’s value.

Correct, Nomura Kogei was also involved in the building planning. It is a three-story building including the roof of the reinforced concrete structure. The museum is located on a hill with a great view, and taking advantage of this characteristic, the gallery space on the second floor features a panoramic view of the Sea of Japan, which was incorporated into the exhibition space as a borrowed landscape for visitors to enjoy. Next to the museum there is also a dolphin breeding pool for visitors viewing pleasure. The exhibition was designed to control the amount of information, margins, and colours so that visitors can enjoy the exhibition as if they were in an art museum. As for the exterior design of the building, we aimed for a simplistic yet quality design.

Any Chances you can tell us what defines a storyteller to you?

Through the design, you wished to improve Kinosaki Marine World's brand value. Would you be able to explain a little further about the original concept? And what was the most important matter to you when you and your team designed the museum?

design team

The concept of the museum is "A museum that talks about what is taught by life". It is not only a museum where living things can be appreciated, but also a place where visitors can learn about how an aquarium sincerely faces the "life" of living things. I think this helped to convey the vision and aim of Kinosaki Marine World to its visitors, gaining a deep fan base and increasing its brand value. In this museum, the subject of the ecology of creatures is avoided, and the exhibition structure focuses on "reproductive activity" and people who confront the life of creatures. I think that part of this award was something new that other aquarium facilities lack. In addition to the usual activities of

As an aquarium, it has a mission of the conservation of living creatures. Let's face their lives sincerely, repeat failures and successes, and tell the visitors honestly what they learned from living creatures by facing their lives. This is the tone that encompasses the entire museum - "A museum where you can talk about your thoughts". Therefore, all the subjects of the exhibition are zookeepers, and they have a sentence structure to talk to visitors. In order to convey my feelings more strongly, it was very difficult to reach the words that had been stripped to the limit.

Mr. Kenji Takahashi

Ms. Rumi Nakanishi

Mr. Kyohei Kishida

The footbath bench in the Museum is using the local hot spring bench. Where's the idea coming from? Kinosaki Marine World is a facility located in the San'in Coast Geopark in Nature. You can experience the hot spring (heat of the earth) while looking at this beautiful panoramic view of the Sanin coast. We designed the footbath bench outside so that the whole body could feel the wonderful nature of the Sanin coast. Also, as it is the innermost facility in the Marine World area, I would like to relieve the fatigue of visitors.

During the global pandemic, any changes or specific additional new design requests by the Museum to your design projects? It was originally designed to have more space. Therefore, we can secure enough social distance. On the Marine World side, the number of visitors is managed, so you can use the facility as it was at the time of opening.

Will you and your team, love to design more projects like museums in the near future? What's the joy and fun you bring from this project. ·Of course, I would like to challenge the project of the museum in the future. Each project has a different exhibition theme, which is hard, but also fresh and interesting. We always have a hard time extracting what we want to convey to visitors through exhibitions, finding new ways of doing things, and creating exhibition contents, but based on this hypothesis, we create exhibitions, and when visitors actually see the exhibits, they nod broadly or look at smiling faces after the exhibition opens, which is our greatest pleasure and pleasure. That's where all the hard work ends.

Any new or challenging project coming up? If Will that be able to share with us? I am still involved in several projects. I have worked in a variety of fields rather than specialized markets. I have a non-disclosure agreement with my client, so I can't talk about the ongoing project itself, but as a new project I would like to get involved in, I would really like to do the work for the 2025 Osaka Expo. Regardless of the size and content of the property, I have always created my own "challenge" by incorporating experimental new ideas into the design. So I want to continue to enjoy the design in the future.

Marine World http://marineworld.hiyoriyama.co.jp/museum/ About the Design, please visit: https://www.nomurakougei.co.jp/achievements/detail/608 74

Merci Magazine - Late Summer and Pre-Fall 2021

DESIGN & LEISURE

Merci Magazine - Late Summer and Pre-Fall 2021

THE SECRET GARDEN Recreating the lost landscape of the Edo period PHOTOS COURTESY OF AMAN

There are few things more humbling,

Situated in Kyoto’s north in the district of

rewarding and peaceful than a garden – the

Takagamine, Aman Kyoto shares its forested

ultimate synergy between man and nature.

slopes

Since antiquity gardens have been planted

UNESCO-protected

to provide sustenance, but also purely for

Sixteen other World Heritage Sites are located

beauty’s sake – to feed the soul. Aman Kyoto

nearby, including Ryoan-ji’s Zen rock garden,

has such a garden – a lush jewel at the heart

and Ninna-ji Temple with its picturesque

of a 32-hectare forest offering all who enter its

grounds.

with

nearby

Kinkaku-ji, ‘Golden

Kyoto’s Temple’.

emerald bowers nature’s healing touch. Takagamine and its neighbouring districts Aman’s third destination in Japan is an

were havens for artisans in the 16th and 17th

ethereal world apart: moss-covered footpaths

centuries – in particular weavers. Said to be the

link tranquil forest glades, and streams

original designers of Aman Kyoto’s garden,

provide a soothing soundtrack broken only by

they are also the reason for the garden’s revival

birdsong. The property is nonetheless ideally

by the property’s most recent owner, who

placed for exploring Kyoto’s many attractions,

envisaged a textile museum in its midst.

from teahouses graced by geiko and maiko, custodians of Japan’s revered hospitality arts, to ancient temples, most with beautiful gardens of their own.

LIVING HERITAGE Honoured to be the new guardian of this living heritage site, Aman worked closely with renowned landscape architect, Professor Shimoda, to restore the historic garden to its full glory and to recreate the lost landscape of the Edo period. Using only indigenous plants and trees, he ensured that the garden would be completely self-sustaining, without a single piece of machinery marring its pristine contours.“The essence of traditional Japanese gardens lies in either Taoism with a focus on immortality, or Buddhism with its theme of rebirth in paradise,” explains Professor Shimoda. “Gardens were designed as a medium to connect people to the spiritual world and were therefore usually associated with religious institutions. My aim with the garden at Aman Kyoto was to connect people to nature in the same way that Japanese gardens were traditionally connected to the spiritual world.” The gardens were designed in such a way so as not to simply let nature take over, but to create a refined and aesthetically pleasing space. For example, the maple trees are carefully placed so that their canopies float like clouds between two green layers. Above them are local evergreen trees, such as Japanese cedars over The Living Pavilion, and Camphor trees lining the main promenade. Underneath, evergreen shrubs such as Japanese andromeda, Japanese camellia, Japanese blue oaks, are blanketed by a luminous carpet of evergreen moss. The composition is quite simple, but the impression it creates is very strong. A masterpiece with approximately 1,500m of meandering pathways, multiple viewpoints and at least seven secluded outdoor dining sites, Aman Kyoto’s garden changes like a kaleidoscope with the seasons. Winter’s camellias are spectacular against the garden’s evergreen Japanese cedars, andromeda and lush wood ferns, until February’s plum blossoms signal spring’s arrival. March and April’s famous cherry blossoms segue into summer’s plethora of blooms, from azaleas and peonies, to hydrangeas and irises. Autumn sets the garden’s Japanese 78

Merci Magazine - Late Summer and Pre-Fall 2021

Sample the peerless art of Japanese hospitality at Taka-An, where Aman’s gifted chef presents an omakase (set menu) dining experience. Or savour Western and local cuisines at the convivial Living Pavilion, with its fire-warmed interiors and breathtaking garden terrace.

Executive Chef Shinichirō Takagi

A heritage of creativity Three centuries ago, the artist and polymath Honami Koetsu helped shape the culture and creative life of the Takagamine district of Kyoto, and from there, Japan as a whole. Taka-an is a culinary homage to him as his artistic legacy is explored and expressed through food and hospitality.

maples on fire, as their magnificent red and orange foliage competes

Completed by Kerry Hill-designed resort offers an elegant restaurant

for attention with multi-hued chrysanthemums. The garden also

with an expansive terrace known as The Living Pavilion by Aman,

features some rare endemic species, including asarum nipponicum,

Japanese restaurant ‘Taka-an’, a serene Aman Spa with indoor and

or ‘wild ginger’.

outdoor onsen bathing pools, and 26 latticed guest Pavilions, Suites and Rooms paying contemporary homage to the traditional Japanese

Over the last two years, the garden was protected in every way possible

ryokan inn concept. Starting at 60 square metres, each is spacious

during the construction of Aman Kyoto’s free-standing pavilions –

and light-filled with exquisite views – ingeniously crafted to foster the

each a subtle and complementary addition to the landscape. Even the

same peace, relaxation and contemplation within, that Aman Kyoto’s

Sunagoke moss on the footpaths was preserved through the laying of

garden inspires without.

raised metal walkways above its verdant iridescence. 80

Merci Magazine - Late Summer and Pre-Fall 2021

Leisure & Hospitality

Finest local ingredients

Home-cooked Kyoto-style cuisine and Western dishes

Aman Kyoto source their ingredients –

Inspired by Kyoto’s diverse food culture,

from milk and meat to vegetables – from

The Living Pavilion serves local cuisine,

the finest local purveyors. These include

as well as innovative and comforting

Ohara free-range eggs, Kyoto Rice from

Western dishes – all focusing on the

Kobatake, and miso from Matsuno Shoyu,

natural flavours of the ingredients used.

founded in 1805 just a 10-minute walk

Based on the freshest seasonal produce

from Aman Kyoto. In season, abalone

available, options include grilled meats

comes from the waters surrounding Ise

and seafood, pastas and salads, with

Shima.

influences from as far afield as Italy and Latin America.

Aman Kyoto’s Rooms and Pavilions are a contemporary homage to the traditional Japanese Ryokan Inn, strikingly minimalist in their geometry, and serving as a window onto their spectacular natural settings. Interiors are spacious and light-filled, allowing each space to exist and breathe with the landscape and historic forested gardens that surround, instilling a sense of calm.

Merci Magazine - Late Summer and Pre-Fall 2021

Leisure & Hospitality

TAKAGAMINE SUITE The 165 square metres (1780 square feet) suite features a living room, a traditional Japanese Tatami room, Western dining room and kitchen area. Bedrooms feature natural woods, floor-to-ceiling windows, tatami flooring and tokonoma alcoves, and are connected to the living-dining area. For guests who would like to experience a stay more similar to the traditional Japanese Ryokan Inn, futons can be provided in the Japanese Tatami room. Ideal for families, the Takagamine Suite is also available with two-bedrooms with en suite bathrooms (226 square meters, 2430 square feet).

WASHIGAMINE PAVILION Surrounded by nature in the highest and most secluded area of the resort, the east facing Washigamine Pavilion pays homage to the traditional Japanese Ryokan inn and looks over the entire garden and the Hieisan in the distance. A trekking path leads directly from the pavilion through the surrounding forest and various private meditation gardens can be found nearby. At 241 square metres (2594 square feet) the pavilion is Aman Kyoto’s largest accommodation and features a living room, a traditional Japanese Tatami room, a Western dining room and a kitchen area. Two en suite bedrooms feature natural woods, floor-to-ceiling windows, tatami flooring and tokonoma alcoves, and are connected to the living-dining area. For guests who would like to experience a stay more similar to the traditional Japanese Ryokan inn, futons can be provided in the Japanese Tatami room.

Merci Magazine - Late Summer and Pre-Fall 2021

Leisure & Hospitality

Spa Journey

Mineral hot springs 86

Merci Magazine - Late Summer and Pre-Fall 2021

Candlelit yoga

FITNESS & WELLNESS The mineral-rich water that springs near Aman Kyoto is central to the philosophy at the resort’s Aman Spa. Traditional onsen bathing facilities deliver relaxation and healing in their purest forms, while a range of treatments tap into Japan’s plentiful natural apothecary – including Kyoto green tea, tanba kuromame black beans, local sake and cold-pressed camellia oil. MINERAL HOT SPRINGS Soak in the healing waters of our onsen bathing pools. Dating back to the sixth century, Japanese bathing culture initially grew out of Buddhist cleansing rituals. Today the Japanese still enjoy seasonal onsen and herbal baths for their health-giving benefits AMAN KYOTO SIGNATURE PROGRAMME This half-day programme takes a holistic approach to the wellbeing of the body and mind. It is recommended for guests looking to experience the true harmony of nature in beautiful Japanese garden. THE POWER OF SHIATSU A speciality at Aman Kyoto, Shiatsu is an intuitive massage technique based on the same principles as acupuncture. Aiming to restore the flow of energy or qi in the body, it is known to improve muscle tone, strengthen immunity and dispel stress. MINDFULNESS PROGRAMMES Discover the peace that nature can instill with a guided one-day mindfulness programme. This includes the Signature Spa Journey, onsen, a 2-hour hike and a hilltop meditation session followed by a picnic lunch.

For more information, please visit: Mindfulness programmes

https://www.aman.com

The Quiet village Songyan００g, Zhejiang

A HUNDRED ANCIENT VILLAGES 88

Merci Magazine - Late Summer and Pre-Fall 2021

Architecture Designed by JIAKUN ARCHITECTS Interior Designed by JIAKUN ARCHITECTS and CSD DESIGN

DESIGN ADDS ANOTHER DIMENSION TO THE NATURE OF HISTORY Layout Designed by ANGELA LOPES by MERCI TEAM

In 2013, Chinese National Geographic hailed Songyang, a county to the southeast of the province of Zhejiang as “the last hidden gem south of the Yangtze River”. Here, more than a hundred ancient villages hide on the far side of mountain roads and undulating cliffs. Perhaps due to the difficult access to the region, it remains close to nature and far away from the bustle of the city. However, once visitors arrive on-site, time and space are experienced differently; aged trees, ancient temples, old houses, all provide the most unique cultural atmosphere, authenticity sealed away from public view, worthy of being praised as “an example of the ancient Chinese county”.

Merci Magazine - Late Summer and Pre-Fall 2021

In the past seven years, this landscape of nature and culture has welcomed new life in the form of fresh design interpretations, gradually becoming a utopia for designers. Through a precise approach reminiscent of the most skilled acupuncture techniques, Songyang comprises a charming collection of diverse elements ranging from mountain scenery to primitive ancient villages and modern architectural masterpieces.

TO LIVE IN HISTORY OR TO LIVE IN NATURE

The hotel mainly consists of two elements: the original old district’s committee structures as well as brand-new spaces. Both the old and the new follow the same logic on architecture and design: to respect and procure the integration of all objects on site, including buildings and trees. When encountering trees, either approach must respect them and let them be in courtyards. When encountering old buildings, it’s necessary to appreciate them like good observers, in a considerate manner, and allow them to naturally grow into graceful residences with central patios where “water from four directions flows into the hall”, in the architectural style of ancient residences south of the Yangtze River. In the same fashion, the reception has been designed around an old tree. Terrazzo-like materials indoors and outdoors blur the boundaries of space, while vivid palmweaving works from local artisans act as another key element of the design. The designer deliberately integrates nature, culture and life into a well-balanced concept where all spaces and objects are in harmony with the course of “everything under the heavens”, allowing interaction between rigid and soft elements, leading feelings, thoughts and emotions to converge.

Merci Magazine - Late Summer and Pre-Fall 2021

The INTERSECTION where PEOPLE and ARCHITECTURE meet with the OLD and the NEW. At the “border area” between the newly built guest rooms and the district’s committee, a living room conceived as a cozy “fireside lodge” becomes the intersection that connects the old with the new.

Merci Magazine - Late Summer and Pre-Fall 2021

Architecture & Interior Design

The design further extends Songyang’s “cloaked” strategy, by installing mesh screens that separate the access lines to the guest rooms and provide a poetic atmosphere proper of “late night talks by the fireplace”. The intertwined mechanism of people and time becomes a vivid and unique “decoration”. It also makes everything in the new building worthy of the “stature” of the old building. The original wood doors witness and record the change of times, while cascades of wooden trusses add up to the style of the construction. Furthermore, the designer uses tall dark brown wood baseboards and lowhanging corduroy curtains in dark-green tones to add the finishing touch to a dreamy atmosphere of ancient China. However, the designer doesn’t feel “nostalgic” at all. The historical section has been reorganized in a modern context. Artistic elements such as a caramel leather sofa or vertical patterned glass are more than enough to bring visitors’ thoughts back into the present. The interior design adopts different strategies in a targeted manner according to the conditions of the building. In the new structure, space and objects are all concise and simple. Artistically painted cement walls and wooden walls provide the best atmosphere to reflect light and shadows. There is also a reflection screen and shading system hidden on top of the curtain walling in order to keep the space pure. Artistic palm-weaving patterns reappear complemented by a vast selection of designer furniture in different styles that perfectly describe the nature of time and space in the hotel. Such elements are indoor “centerpieces”, a testimony of memory to be cherished and brought back home.

Merci Magazine - Late Summer and Pre-Fall 2021

FIVE YOUNG TALENTS SELECTED for "UNDER 30! at DesignArt Tokyo Photos courtesy of DesignArt Tokyo “DESIGNART TOKYO” is one of Japan’s most significant design and art festivals. Now is when new ideas, creative thinking, and actions that embody them are particularly needed, DESIGNART TOKYO, with this year’s theme: “CHANCE!” will showcase innovative design and art from Tokyo to the world. Varieties of creators and brands have already confirmed their participation in this multi-venue festival, and five fresh talents are selected for the “UNDER30” program that supports young creators. Here are some of the agenda of DESIGNART TOKYO 2021.

Since its first year, DESIGNART TOKYO has been supporting young creators through the “UNDER 30” program. Among many competitive applicants, five international creators have been selected by the founders of DESIGNART.

Hiromasa Fukaji is Designer,Artist. Continuing the pursuit of original graphic expression centered on the technique of creating accidental expression using a plotter (equipment that outputs vector data). "Plotter Drawing" is a technique in which digital data is converted into physical movement by a plotter. Physical factors such as friction, gravity, humidity, and atmospheric pressure act to create "accidental expressions" such as blurring. Plotter Drawing is an expression technique that intentionally creates accidental expressions at the boundaries between digital and real. https://www.hiromasa-fukaji.com/

Hiromasa Fukaji 97

AROUNDANT Kentaro Takagi's "W-M project" is an attempt to create a new textile that is beyond anyone's control by combining the structure of a loom and the movement created by playing an instrument. "Less than instrument" by Soichiro Tanaka is a lighting work in which a Led chip is embedded in expanded metal, which is a building material, giving the impression that there is no light source. Based on the creative activities that each of them has done, "purism" is set as a common theme, and two works that have been updated according to DESIGNART TOKYO 2021 will be exhibited.

https://www.aroundant.com

KATHLEEN REILLY

Kathleen Reilly is a Scottish artist and metalworker based in Tsubame city in Japan’s Niigata prefecture. She graduated from the Royal College of Art in 2018 and is represented by Gallery S O in London. Exploring new territory in how we interact with every day, artist, and metalworker Kathleen Reilly presents Oku, a new knife design made in collaboration with local cutlery manufacturers in Tsubame city. www.kathleenreilly.co.uk

Merci Magazine - Late Summer and Pre-Fall 2021

DESIGNART TOKYO 2021

Atsushi Shindo works as an interior designer. His works focus on the primitive charm of unremarkable materials that are closely related to our life. Traveling around Japan made him rediscovered the diversity of design. These are fostered by nature and climate. He has found a lot of sparkle of joy in abundant nature and techniques in Toyama has visited Toyama a few times in these years. This exhibition aims to think about future design through the making process.

ATSUSHI SHINDO

https://www.atsushishindo.com/

SALT IN “salt in” is a design unit established by Shanshan Liu and Xiulai Zhou. They are both designers from China, graduated from Musashino Art University. Learning by trial and error, they are exploring the “seasoning” of design. People usually see an object as what it is on the outside, its appearance and senses, without suspecting its internal matters. We want to pull the inside traces and expressions out of its external shell. By turning the inside out, we shift the scenes of production, usage, destruction, circulation, and restoration of existing products, to create works that convey a new common sense, while maintaining the impressions in the sensory and perceptual experiences. https://saltindesign.studio.site/

For more information: http://designart.jp 99

Myonghi Kang at her atelier, 2021

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Pure sensibility without boundaries By Merci Team Photo: Gary Yeh, Courtesy of Villepin

Myonghi Kang’s (b. 1947, Daegu, South Korea) vibrant cosmic paintings project a pure sensibility without boundaries. Through her canvases, the artist expresses the natural world that vacillates between emptiness and fullness in myriad manifestations of colours, marks, and shapes. Myonghi’s paintings radiate joy and powerfully transform their surrounding space. The artist is also a prolific poet; these two mediums allow the artist to capture the world around her, re-constructing its cartography through metaphysical forms of representation. Developing an interest in art from an early age, Myonghi has long examined her relationship with nature, which emerges as a divine silhouette in her paintings. She has also been a scholar of the philosophical and technical study of traditional Eastern paintings throughout her life.

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Travel is a special way for Myonghi to Rediscover the essence of painting.

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From the Gobi Desert to the glaciers of Patagonia, Myonghi has travelled around the world seeking aesthetic inspiration. Travel is a special way for Myonghi to rediscover the essence of painting. Often travelling alone with only a few brushes and some canvas, she returns from her journeys to create large-scale paintings capturing their mesmerising landscapes and memories. She has also travelled extensively around Europe, observing global cultures that continue to inform her work and imbue them with a multinational perspective. For much of her life, Myonghi has divided her time between South Korea and France. She studied Fine Arts at the College of Fine Arts, Seoul National University. Myonghi immigrated to France in 1972 and first settled in near Aix-en Provence, in a small village named Gardanne. There, she learned the French language but also actively practiced and studied fine art. During her early years in France, Myonghi paintings depicted her memories from Korea and reflected the political climate she lived in before leaving the country: “My body was in France but my mind and soul were still in Korea.”

After Myonghi started exhibiting her ethereal paintings, she befriended renowned artists, poets and writers, including Zao Wou-Ki, Piotr Kowalski, Gilles Aillaud, Alain Jouffroy and Dominique de Villepin. Her works gained widespread recognition in the late 1980s following several international solo exhibitions and poetry recitals, including shows at the Centre Georges Pompidou in Paris (1986), the National Museum of Contemporary Art in Seoul (1989) and Beijing Art Museum of Imperial City in China (2011). In 1981, she and her husband Setaik were the founders of the Musée de Séoul in Seoul, the first Museum of Art in South Korea. The artist also participated in the exhibition and symposium Devant, le futur, as part of the World Expo held in Daejeon, South Korea in 1993. She currently lives and works in Jeju, South Korea.

She soon settled in Paris in a studio near Place Clichy with her husband Setaik. After a few years in the French capital, she started painting the urban street scenes of Paris and the surrounding nature when she moved to Quai de la Loire in the 1980s. Located in the 19th arrondissement, the artist embraced its tranquil canals in the heart of the city. As she observed, she woke up each morning and was amazed by the beauty of Paris that she could see from her studio’s window. Since then, she started working with and embracing the light. She took a brush every morning and painted from the window. According to the hour of the day, to the vary light and weather conditions, a painting could continuously evolve with some being completed over several years. 103

Shaped by Dominique and Arthur de Villepin’s passion for art, VILLEPIN is a gallery created by collectors for collectors. Inspired by the founders’ own collections and profound knowledge of the Asian art market, VILLEPIN offers a new gallery concept based on the art of collecting. Through their experience building close friendships with artists, the father son duo wish to share their expertise with fellow collectors by curating artworks that they themselves would love to collect ultimately nurturing a unique model of collecting based on long term relationships with artists and their estates or foundations.

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"Myonghi is a true medicine-woman. Through her infinite display of colors, her paintings contain an embodied spirit that can cure the soul. Art is created through the magic of her brushes, offering a way to preserve the world as well as an oracular challenge." Dominique de Villepin

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Myonghi's major series of "Jardin Nord" has been sculpted for more than 10 years, she held solo exhibitions on this theme in Korean temples between 2010 and 2011, to present the complete picture of zen and serenity.

Arthur and Dominique de Villepin at Myonghi Solo-exhibition, Indipress Gallery, Seoul, 2020 Myonghi Kang - Jardin Nord, I'inquiėtude, 2010, oil on canvas, 460 x 520 cm 108

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With their knowledge of the region’s art scene and strong commitment to the city, the new gallery program will exhibit work by some of the world’s most important artists, focusing on those whose work carries universal messages to demonstrate the power of art to build bridges and change lives. VILLEPIN prioritizes its personal relationships with artists and aspires to tell their personal stories through staging important exhibitions of their work, producing detailed publications and generating dialogue about collecting art with passion.

VILLEPIN 53 -55 Hollywood Road, Central, Hong Kong Opening Hours Tuesday - Saturday 11:00 - 19:00 Sunday 11:00 - 18:00 www.villepinart.com 109

What Would Nietzche be thinking?

Popular culture surrounds us, lifts us up and throws us down sated and exhausted. In plugging into the ether, maxing out on the here and now, what distinguishes the independent mind is its heat-seeking ability to think differently. Of recent months, our diet of the virtual has led to exhaustion of a different category – uncategorisable by any dissection of our life-experience thus far – a deep, deep desire for touch, taste and tumult.

Hugs, above all, hugs.

Those different thinkers made it through if not unscathed, then strengthened. The adversity of Covid times gave us resilience; it gave us strength. We spat out the fake and embraced the shimmering light of a new day dawning or the beauty of blossoms, filling our gaze as we look upwards through branches to the sky above us.

We thought differently, and so we acted and behaved differently.

Art and Living

NOTES ON CH A R LES CH AU’S UPCOMING EX HIBITION IN TOKYO By Lianne Hackett Photo courtesy of Charles Chau work illustrations courtesy of artist

INTRODUCTION This is the beauty artists share with us. Charles Chau’s Fafa (Fafa 1, Hong Kong,

petals. Soon, Fafa blossoms will bloom in

2020; and now Fafa 2, Tokyo, 2021) is such a

Japan – Vincent meets his spirit brother.

sharing of beauty. On large-scale canvasses,

“What would Nietzsche be doing if he were

painted as single images or sectionals,

in Tokyo?” This is a question I would much

Charles expresses the blossoming of nature

have enjoyed asking the philosopher. I

in all its joyous hues and tones, before

imagine the answer: “Sushi and sashimi

addressing the storm that awaits.

and salted plums; tofu and teriyaki and towering skyscrapers.” I imagine that

Over 100 years ago, Van Gogh painted cherry

Nietzsche would, in short aphorism form,

blossoms as he imagined them. It is said

make haiku.

that Van Gogh although never in Japan, envisioned himself there. Van Gogh, asks us to look upwards, as if we are lying on

The simplicity of haiku speaks of innocence, of purity, of zen.

our backs on the warm ground, gazing

For me, the thinking was rooted in “What would Nietzsche be thinking?” How would he steer us through the maze of being and becoming? “Quick in, quick out”, he would say, as if he were with us, shoulder to shoulder. We know we have to tame the thoughts that buzz in our heads from waking to sleeping. The answer snaps us out of our reverie. We dare to live in the Nietzschean network of interlocking ideas. We see the whole. We see the beauty.

up at branches that fork across a sky of

The art of haiku brings us by way of

unadulterated blue – blossoms Hokusai

Nietzsche’s slow arrow of beauty to

and Hiroshige reimagined.

appreciate the rake mark in the gravel, the bud opening on the tree, the stillness of a

Over 100 years after Van Gogh, the Tokyo-

moonlit night. Haiku speaks of an age of

based art collective teamLab reimagined

innocence when the artist stood respected,

his works as an immersive 3D installation

the poet lauded, the people harmonious. It

– the experience “like stepping inside a

speaks of an age unlike this one – an age

neon Van Gogh painting” i. Borderless

that we want to re-find and restore, but we

Tokyo attracts more visitors than the Van

have lost the way-map. The quest that Henri

Gogh Amsterdam – the reimagined a bigger

Alain-Fournier's evoked so beautifully in

draw than the originals – unthinkable pre

“Le Grand Meaulnes” – his poignant study

virtual. In Fafa 2, Charles also asks us to look

of love and loss; the lost estate of the title:

upwards. His blossoms are as seen from

the literary dream place, Les Sablonnières.

the ground - the sky an inflorescence of

Right (and preivous page underlay: details of the same): Reflection (2) 2020 acrylic and mixed media on canvas 38 x 52 in (1.5 in deep) 96.5 x 132.1 cm (3.8 cm deep)

HOW WE STARTED A DREAM PLACE. HONG KONG IN THE LATE 1980S In Hong Kong in the late 1980s, I came to know

Hope springs from the pages of the limited-

Charles through working with him on a series

edition book It Is All About Love that Polam

of essays. At that time, Charles was Chief Editor

Lau produced in 2020 to celebrate love: that

of Citymagazine, a large-format, big-thinking

passionate desire, longing and feelings for.

publication that encapsulated brilliantly the

The book is a heavyweight: punching in at 7.5

zeitgeist of the day. I was based at LeCadre

kilos. Lovingly produced in an edition of 150, it

Gallery, where gallerist Polam Lau, together

is Polam’s tribute to the LeCadre artist family.

with Bing Kwan & the late Leo Chan, curated

As acclaimed designer John Morford says of

legendary exhibitions and showed the best

LeCadre, it is “delightfully stubborn, determined

design. Together with Hong Kong Arts Centre,

and enduring” 2. We all need some of that

Citymagazine & LeCadre were fulcrums of the

attitude now and in the days to come. These

city’s cultural life. In a publication released

days – some would call them the antithesis of

last year, Oscar Ho Hing-Kay, artist + HKAC

innocence – but we continue to hold out hope

Exhibitions Director at the time, speaks of Hong

– it might be helpful to explore thoughts of Dis-

Kong being “built on its ability to accommodate,

learn + Dis-think. Dis-doing may need to take

absorb, adopt, manipulate, and transform” .

precedence over Re-doing.

And so it was. So, what would Nietzsche do to counter our The Citymagazine essays became much more.

sense of innocence lost? He would set arrows

Charles’s vision was to champion collectively

zinging outwards – maxims to give us strength:

a thought campaign: Re-think + Re-learn.

“Formula of my happiness : a Yes, a No, a straight

Together with Matthew Turner, senior lecturer at

line, a goal…” 3

the Hong Kong Polytechnic’s School of Design, we explored ideas, visions and suggested ways forward. Those have been described as days of innocence, we hope not lost forever.

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PHASE ONE FOR THE ARTIST The first in Charles’s series of exhibitions was Mountain Vastness

he had sculpted. It came as a shock and yet a delightful surprise

(Black Series, Hong Kong; White Series, Beijing, 2014), a set of

to me to witness Charles grow into his passion for art.

disectional charcoal drawings and installations that was first

This transformation would have been no surprise to the noted

shown in the intimate space that is the Hong Kong Fringe Gallery,

academic Charles Handy, one of Charles’s Professors at the

followed by the vast Opposite House Gallery in the Sanlitun district

London Business School, and author of The Age of Unreason.

of Beijing, created by the Japanese architect Kengo Kuma. The

After Citymagazine, Charles moved to London to study for an MBA

contrast of one space to the

at LBS. He recollects Handy

other was intentional. The

saying, “Change, after all, is

now-legendary Hong Kong

only another word for growth,

Fringe inhabits an historic

another synonym for learning.

ice house in Central Hong

We can all do it, and enjoy it,

Kong. Contrast the historic

if we want to.” 4 Charles did

with the modernity of Kengo

it; he made the change.

Kuma’s architecture at Opposite House. Dig deeper

It was if the age of unreason

and an historic connection is

had suddenly become

made: Kuma was inspired by

reasonable. Steeped in the

traditional Beijing Siheyuan

Nietzsche world, where

residences where a central

sarcasm can flow at times,

courtyard is surrounded by

Charles decided to live

buildings on all four sides. In

instead by Nietzsche’s maxim,

the Opposite House, Charles

“If we possess our why of life

had the volume he and his

we can put up with almost any

partner Rainbow needed for

how”.3

the creation of a monumental, largely sculptural installation

Mountain Vastness marked a

– 4.5m wide x 9m long x 3.5m

pivot in Charles ‘s life: he had

high. Together, they brought

found his why; his goal.

the vastness of the mountain In Mountain Vastness, with its

into the gallery space.

bi-tonal palette of Black and Alongside vertiginous peaks sculpted in abstract homage to

White, Charles realised the ambitious project he had set out to

mountains we can only dream of scaling, were the first of Charles’s

create: fast-rewind history and explore a geological past before

beautiful charcoal drawings, again of mountains. The full-flowing

human existence, back in time to the beginnings of the earth itself.

technique is rooted in Chinese ink and brush but drawn large in charcoal on paper. The contrast of black drawn on white; white

This essay came into being when I heard that Charles had imprinted

carved out against the black darkness of the gallery was a sublime

Nietzsche’s slow arrow of beauty on the gallery floor in Sanlitun.

rendering of nature at its most daunting, austere and humbling. Mountain Vastness was the culmination of the moment in the new

Above:

millennium when Charles transitioned from the hybrid world of

Installation view of Moutain Vastness - Black Series,

cultural creativity/business management to his new world as a pure

Fringe Gallery, Hong Kong. 2013. Photo: Terry Chan

artist. The change was as vast as the vastness of the mountains

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INTRODUCING PHASE TWO Charles spent the next six years working in his studio. He left behind the vastness of the mountains, descaling from the heights – a de-scaling in aesthetic & geomorphological terms – to the rich phenomena of field, valley and meadow. He found his firstperson viewpoint – a phenomenology of nowness – the present: happiness on the plains. He found the lushness of blossom where colour abounds. The result was Fafa, a deliberate breakaway from the previous monotone of Black on White. In Fafa, Charles employs an explosive colour palette that radiates his desire to contemplate and celebrate the now – the nowness of being. In Fafa, Charles found his Nietzschean 'sunspot'. Colour exploded onto Charles’s palette. The colours of the multihued blossom positively hum as if singing to the playful light of sunshine that dances across the canvasses, brushstrokes fizzing with energy and life. It is as if he wants to bring cheer to people by celebrating the nature that is all around us – in gardens, parks, meadows and balconies – the anywhere and everywhere of where flowers blossom. The artist wants to take us – all of us – outside for a walk in his Wonderland. Charles describes his working practice – in a measure of his humility, he speaks of painting as making marks - as representing days, weeks, and – on occasion – months and even years of dialogue between him and the world around him. He describes the joy and truthfulness of childhood as being as simple and enduring as are beauty and love, talking of his canvasses “Blooming with loving colours!” In Fafa 1, the joy and boundless happiness of childhood – its cherished memories and fond rhythms – led to Charles

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producing canvasses that blossom with floral exuberance – canvasses that positively sing with the beauty of his now much extended world. Flowers bring joy wherever we find them. If we cannot visit dream gardens such as Vita Sackville-West’s Sissinghurst in Sussex or Kairakuen in Mito or VanDusen in Vancouver, we bring blossoms indoors whether picked from our gardens or window boxes or in lush wild flower bunches from Nikki Tibbles at Wild at Heart in London or single headed sculpturals from Maurice Harris at Bloom & Plume in LA. Fashion designers are having a[nother] floral moment – embroidering, painting & beading flowers in a riot of colour palettes. Leading the floralist fashion pack are Charlotte Knowles, Richard Quinn & the legendary Valentino. Christian Dior’s love of flowers was at the core of his design philosophy. In Dior in Bloom, he is quoted as saying, “After women, flowers are the most lovely thing God has given the world.” 5 Interior designers splay flowers across walls and ceilings – plaster cast or blown glass, as in The Holy Deer in Rome – a former papal chambers transformed by Portuguese architect João Mendes Ribeiro – and the Jumeirah Saadiyat Island in Abu Dhabi by Susan Ross of DBI Design. Spas have long used flower-based treatments: here at The Ned in London, where Annee de-Mamiel rejuvenates with flower essences & herby serums: there at the Aman Kyoto, where coldpressed camellia oil is part of shiatsuinspired massage treatments.

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Art and Living

The parfumier would be lost without their floral lexicon. The haute perfumer Roja Dove describes the essence of his Floral perfume as “as sweet, soft and gentle as that which might greet you as you enter a florist”. Edible flowers are so much a part of the chef’s ingredient box that we have come to expect violet, nasturtium, borage and other edible petals on our plates. At Hong Kong’s Skye, Michelin-starred chef Lee Adams adds flowers to the plate, fresh picked from his rooftop garden. Blossom is beautiful wherever we find it. Blossom is colour; colour brings joy.

FAFA 2 V FAFA 1 Fafa Season 1 was a hug; Fafa Season 2 is a challenge – for the artist, for the viewer. The challenge for the artist was to explore colour not as theory but activity – a striving, as Wittgenstein argued, after conceptual clarity not scientific truth. If a ladder were needed, Charles would have used it then thrown it away. There is risk in Fafa2. For Charles, the risk as artist was in seeking to enter a new zone of exploration where shades and tones of greys and whites break through more vibrant hues and tones. Not satisfied with depicting only the natural beauty and vibrant colours of Season 1, Charles wanted to enter a world where he could push further into the highs and lows of being a human, part of nature’s cycle of birth and death, growth and deterioration, as in the blossoming and withering of flowers. The joyous expression of colour, which is for him what Fafa 1 was all about, is now more mystical. He has grown closer to Nietzsche’s maxim of the axiomatic acceptance for the artist that the presence of artistic faculty is needed to perceive the world of appearances. In his essay for Fafa 1, Professor Peng Feng, Dean of the School of Arts and Professor of Aesthetics and Art Criticism at Peking University, spoke of Charles’s work as “elevating the Obsession of Dionysus (God of Wine) to the Dream of Helios (God of Sun)”. Professor Peng’s words are a re-evoking of Nietzsche7, a philosopher subconsciously rooted in Charles’s past; now physically in his present and future. Speaking directly to Charles, the Professor tells him that he – the artist – is now no longer torn between dream and intoxication, but is in unity with the world. The Professor concluded his essay with words that can be read as a blessing, ‘It is overwhelming that mystic and minimalist now fuse into one.’ 6

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The force and vision expressed in the essay had a powerful impact on Charles. He understood that the Professor was signposting a route that he had until then known subliminally but now could voice. He understood that his path as an artist was now as defined by the question that he came to call “What Would Nietzsche be Thinking?”. He re-read in translation Human, All Too Human, swiftly recognising that the Professor’s words led him to aphorism 149: 'The slow arrow of beauty. The most noble kind of beauty is that which does not carry us away suddenly, whose attacks are not violent or intoxicating (this kind easily awakens disgust), but rather the kind of beauty which infiltrates slowly, which we carry along with us almost unnoticed, and meet up with again in dreams; finally, after it has for a long time lain modestly in our heart, it takes complete possession of us, filling our eyes with tears, our hearts with longing. What do we long for when we see beauty? To be beautiful.' 7

WHEN DID YOU LAST KISS THE CLOUDS?

The vale of tears, the longing for bliss. Nirvana. Utopia. Nothingness? Not one to drown in the gloom of the nihilists, Charles set out on a different path, to conquer his own fear. Thus we come to Fafa 2: a risk and challenge for the artist. Charles had decided to move on from the pure delight of the blossoming of spring and summer to the decay and loss that comes with the dying days of autumn and darkness of winter – the greyness, as Charles describes it.

Hues (2) 07:00 2020 acrylic and mixed media on canvas 52 x 38 in (1.5 in deep) 132.1 x 96.5 cm (3.8 cm deep)

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Charles knew with trepidation, but also certainty, that he would need to explore the complexities of colour thematics in a colour palette that would include the greys. He knew the risks for him of exploring this new palette. Greys are for the low times. That said, grey is perhaps only a shade – neither a colour nor even a hue. True, not true? The entirety of the truth for now remained elusive.

He has faced risk before: in 2018, by asking “What is the colour of the wind?” Without risk takers, our world would be much the lesser. Charles has taken the risk of pushing on into new territories. It is as if he has crossed off everything on his list of things to do and has reached the point where he is quintessentially himself. His 'portfolio of possibilities' 4, as Charles Handy put it so succinctly, is full.

The question may be esoteric, but the intention is pure. A long-time advocate of looking within, Charles is unafraid of questions that come from the ether. Chopra opened him to this. In sayings such as, 'Happiness is a continuation of happenings which are not resisted', Chopra embodies all that remains good and true from the New Age movement. His return to roots to study ancient Ayurvedic practices healed many. Chopra continues to be relevant, his ChopraApp anticipating the global tuning in to meditation.

If the rainbow represents the full spectrum of colour possibilities, the artist wants now to enter the zones of shades and hues, too.

Just as Chopra became the keystone of the new age movement in the 1990s, so Massachusetts Institute of Technology & London Business School became the beating hearts of system dynamics – the places where I think software was developed to model the future. It was a momentous moment in time, before others moved into the space. Post millennium, fellow MIT academic, Albert Rutherford – at heart a Wh?sman in the George Wyllie tradition: one who asks and answers – posed the question: 'Why should this matter to

you?' His answer, 'Because you are a system. You are a part of smaller and larger systems – your community, your country, your species.' 8 Charles was at the heart of these millennial debates. The questioning acting as a springboard for his still to come life as an artist. The question became: When did you last kiss the clouds? This a direct reference to cloud mapping. In synchrondestiny, Charles found a discipline that realised his deep sense of connectedness – with others, with nature, with the cosmos – just as Tom Tykwer, Andy & Lana Wachowski realised in their 2012 film version of David Mitchell’s novel Cloud Atlas. The movie made visual Mitchell’s complex interwoven tale of reincarnation over several time periods – past, present and future – the actions of individual lives impacting one on another, shaping the future through acts of kindness, big and small. Mitchell’s novel imagines time as reinforcing loops, a concept developed by ex-McKinseyite & MIT academic Peter Senge where, in a fifth dimension, ‘new and expansive patterns of thinking are nurtured, where collective

Art and Living

aspiration is set free, and where people are continually learning how to learn together.’ 9 For Charles, it was as if Haw Par Mansion had segued from a visual to a sound world. For him – set free – it became all about the music. In time, post MTV, the music fused with movement – his paint seems to dance on the canvas – the McKinseyite dotting the lines on the coloured maps in the cloud atlas. In our constantly evolving, inter-connected world, Senge’s reinforcing loops – he spoke also of balancing loops – give us tools for learning that we can use to generate a newfound equilibrium. So it was for Charles. He took up the challenge that Professor Peng had put before him to lay bare the polar ethics of creativity – Apollonian versus Dionysian – the productive struggle between two poles that, as the Professor reminded us, Nietzsche reimagined from its ancient Sophoclean roots. In responding, Charles wrote: ‘The artist’s never-ending search for shades – tones and hues: warm or cool; lighter or darker – for colour, of which there is an infinite range, but never one single perfect choice. The artist

continues to search. If not, why not? Risk is always present, but if art is not risk-taking – as it should be – what will it be?’ ii Beauty in truthfulness… The life we live – our lifeworld Lebenswelt 10 – is all we experience in the immediacy of everyday time, space and body. Lifeworld as a state of being, as analysed by the phenomelogists & geopoeticists envisions time, space and consciousness as interrelated. Lifeworld is the artist’s space. Through meditative practice, the artist comes to inhabit the very givenness, the presence of experience. The surface of the canvas not one but many layers; the latent energy of paint becomes body, plant, creature – otherness.

Durkheim explored – what we more often now call the zeitgeist. The label matters not. What matters is the joy we take in recognising shared loves: for bao, for Bowie, for Buddhism. For local becoming global. Above: Last Night (1) 2021 acrylic and mixed media on canvas 30 x 52 in (1.5 in deep) 76.2 x 132.1 cm (3.8 cm deep)

The deep ecology of the artist’s lifeworld shows the way for the inherent worth of nature, the cosmos, the human spirit – whatever is the focus of the artist – to a shared space. As people, we gain from this – we blossom, just as the flowers do. At pivotal moments in time, people across time zones and continents find commonality. This is the sociological concept of collective effervescence that

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THE LIGHT

SHALL WE NOT SHOW REVERENCE FOR THE SKIES ABOVE US? Joy is in living. Charles calls his new palette Rainbow’s ink – a tribute to his beautiful wife, Rainbow. While exploring the greys, Charles also wants to make sense of the whites – white as colour, but also as light. As God says, “Let there be Light”. In letting in the light, not all is lost: greyness is confronted; white illuminates the darkness. Aware that white also speaks of the Chinese concept of emptiness – the space between; liminality – Charles knew for him that white would be uplifting. White is Light. White are the clouds above our heads. The clouds in the heaven to where our spirits rise. Charles’s path to becoming an artist was not the straight high school to art school to studio route. His undergraduate training in philosophy challenged him to think hard. Charles is not only a philosopher. Past lives saw him as editor, business executive & social observer. He is as much at home in Hong Kong as he is in Kaohsiung, Vancouver or Sao Paolo. He is a global citizen; an intellectual whose mind is as curious as an innocent child. His background gives him a unique view of the world.

Above: Harvest Moon (7) 2021 acrylic and mixed media on wood panel 26 in diameter (1.75 in deep) 66 cm in diameter (4.5 cm deep)

His background gives him insights into thought processes that others might struggle to understand at first or vocalise. Charles wants to chart new areas of the phenomenological traditions that underpin his conscious experience of painting. He wants to dig deep into the surreal experience that is his experience and awareness of humanity. He is both within and without – his conscious being directed on the object, the focus of his gaze intent on inhaling its spirit.

Opposite Page: En plein air, Deep in the Clouds (4) 2021. acrylic and mixed media on canvas. 42 x 68 in (1.5 in deep) 106.7 x 172.7 cm (3.8 cm deep)

The revelation is echoed in Nietzsche leading us to the beauty of the dawn. 'What do we long for when we see beauty?', he asks and answers with the truism:

About the Artist

'To be beautiful.' 7

Charles, (b1963) is a Hong Kong born contemporary artist currently residing in BC, Canada. His latest body of work is a deliberate attempt to break away from his former signature monochromatic works that explored contained emotions, now liberated with unique coloured brushstrokes and freely associated forms. Charles is a graduate of the University of Hong Kong in Philosophy and Art History, with an MBA

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Charles’s longing for truth in beauty and beauty in truth led to Beauty Restored, the title of his final undergraduate essay in which he examined the hypothesis of the book 11 of the same name by Canadian philosopher Mary Mothersill. It is as if the quest for truth in beauty and beauty in truth has always been embedded in Charles’s work. His deep roots in philosophy underpin his working practice as an artist – considering and referencing philosophers’ viewpoints: Nietzsche, Wittgenstein, Kant, Burke, Bataille….. Bataille writes of flowers as being in an 'immense movement from earth to sky' – a fitting description of Charles’s work. For Bataille, “the sight of this flower provokes in the mind much more significant reactions … the strange privilege of revealing the presence of love.” 12

from London Business School. He turned full time to his own art 15 years ago — establishing his own studio practice. Charles had exhibited in Hong Kong, Vancouver and Beijing previously.

When did you last kiss the clouds? CHARLES CHAU EXHIBITION Tokyo, Japan www.charleschau.ca

His next show, Fafa2: When did you last kiss the clouds? (July, 2022) is a sequel to his last exhibition Fafa1: Why did I paint the flower pink? hold in Hong Kong, June 2020.

July 2 (SAT) -3 (SUN), 2022 Morio Studio 1/F 〒107-0062 Pacific Arts Aoyama 1F 6-5-45, Minami-Aoyama, Minato, Tokyo

Art & Living

SHARED NOWNESS AND INTO THE FUTURE If Zoom was the glue that connected us during lockdown last year, Netflix was the smörgåsbord, the banquet, the bounty. We gorged, we cried, we laughed, we shared – from Schitt’s Creek to The Queen’s Gambit to The Crown. The word, “Ew!” became a shared expression; chess became cool. These are zeitgeist moments: no need for explanation. Just the simple, shared joy of understanding the coded message. We revel in the sheer joy of shared experience – the collective effervescence. Fafa 2 immerses us in such a collective effervescence. The artist asks us to mine deep. He lifts the viewer into the clouds, up to the blue moon, into the branches of the trees. By the alchemy of paint in a master’s hand, we experience the scent of the blossoms, the softness of the petals, the sigh of the wind in the branches, the scudding of clouds across an azure sky and the magic of the moon, blue for one night only. In a world driven by big data, hard politics & complex geo-economics, the artist reaches out a hand and draws us into the liminal place where we can be more. Heaven on the horizon. Not that there are no other ways of re-mystifying. We know the power of loud, loud music – Wagner for some; Alice Cooper for others – or the craziness of Ibizan club nights, a rammed Pacha or Amnesia, everyone high on the moment. We know of the re-energising power of far-flung travel off-off-off the beaten path to Peru for wild swimming at Paracas or to Georgia for the architectural gem that is Tbilisi. Before it was about instant gratification, instant experience: me, now. We have evolved. Now, it is more about experience positively, responsibly – an inexplicable think-connectedness.

BIBLIOGRPAHY / REFERENCES

The pre-Covid world was bliss for some and, for others, the ecological extinction that is The Anthropocene. Covid put an end to so much, but it also opened us up to a gentler, more connected communitarianism. A pandemic is not the cure for climate change.

There was too much loss; too much sadness. But we did reconnect - by virtue of necessity perhaps, but it went deeper than that. Now, in 2021 – and beyond – we look forward to post-Covid physical reconnections. We have faith, love and hope. “Are you looking for straight lines/In these liminal days/Come on let’s be dandelions/Scatter all over the place” iii Those lyrics from Emmy the Great paint a vivid picture of people scattering around the globe again like dandelion seeds. Not the diaspora, but people seeking new places. We will walk on that far-flung beach again; we will cram once more into hot shared spaces. Punch Drunk will entice us one more time to New York into its Macbethian world of Sleep No More. We will drink the witch’s brew as the chosen one - beckoned into her lair. We will re-enter the immersive world of The Lost Estate’s The Lost Love Speakeasy in deepest east London and hear a tale of love and hope retold. We will share food from each other’s plates again at Mere, Monica & David Galetti’s French/South Pacific Fitzrovian space. We will find again joy in shared experience and hugs, above all, hugs. Galleries, theatres, concert halls – the words roll off the tongue like rare exotica. In 2021, across the globe, we will reinstate such vocabulary into our new norm – Tokyo to Turin to Taipei. We will reemerge from the chthonic, phoenix like. What would Nietzsche be thinking? He would surely cut through all the rhetorical questions – de-puzzle the aporia. He would restimulate our minds and reinvigorate our hearts. He would lead us back to the art space and ask us, “What do you see?” He would re-equip us for our new lives and set us on our new paths. Ars poetica: “A poem should not mean/But be.” 13 As a poem, so an artwork. The artwork is Fafa.

1. Oscar Ho Hing-Kay, Art Criticism for the People: News Clippings of Oscar Ho Hing-Kay 1980-1990s, Typesetter Publishing, 2020 2. Polam Lau, It is All About Love, LeCadre Gallery publication, edition of 150, 2020 3. Friedrich Nietzsche, Twilight of the Idols,1889, first published 1889 translation by R.J. Hollingdale, Penguin Classics, 1968 4. Charles Handy, The Age of Unreason, first published in 1989, later addition Arrow Books, an imprint of Random Century Group, 1990 5. Alain Stella, Naomi Sachs & Justine Picardie + Nick Knight, Dior in Bloom, Flammarion, 2020 6. Professor Peng Feng, Dean of the School of Arts and Professor of Aesthetics and Art Criticism at Peking University, Charles Chau: An Artist’s Obsession and Dreams, 2020 7. Friedrich Nietzsche, Human, All Too Human: A Book for Free Spirits, first published 1878, translation by Marion Faber & Stephen Lehmann, Penguin Classics, 1994 8. Albert Rutherford, The Systems Thinker: Essential Thinking Skills For Solving Problems, Managing Chaos, and Creating Lasting Solutions in a Complex World, VDZ,

United States, 2019

9. Peter Senge, The Fifth Discipline: The Art and Practice of the Learning Organization, Random House, 1990 10. Edmund Husserl, Crisis of the European Sciences and Transcendental Phenomenology, an unfinished 1936 book, first published in 1954 by Martinus Nijhoff Publishers,

second reprint in 1962, an English translation by David Carr, Northwestern University Press, 1970

11. Mary Mothersill, Beauty Restored, Clarendon Press, 1984 12. Georges Bataille The Language of Flowers from Visions of Excess: Selected Writings, 1927-1939, University of Minnesota Press 13. Archibald MacLeish, Ars Poetica from Collected Poems 1917-1982, Houghton Mifflin Company, 1985 Articles + social media: i How Van Gogh Imagined Japan, Samuel Reilly, Apollo magazine, March 2018 ii Charles Chau, Facebook post, October 2020 iii Emmy the Great, Dandelions/Liminal from the album April, 2020

https://www.charleschau.ca

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SHIZUOKA SINGLE MALT JAPANESE WHISKY

GAIAFLOW SHIZUOKA DISTILLERY is the first ever distillery to use Japanese cedar as equipment, we are proud to offer you a whole new whisky experience.

We promise you will really taste the difference! https://shizuoka-distillery.jp/

MERCI X WHISKIES & MORE

SPIRITS

Japanese Liquid Gold Written by and photos courtesy of Hil Ying Tse

You must be living under a rock, if you have not heard of Japanese whisky in recent years! Yet, with a history of whisky making of almost 100 years, the popularity of Japanese whisky only catapulted in the last two decades. The rise of the Japanese liquid gold led to a fast-growing following, while producers were caught off guard and couldn’t keep up with the immense demand. As we know, whisky takes time to age and is not an instant ready product. In order to meet the never-ending demand, some producers started looking at alternatives. The applicable law for whisky labelling in Japan has not been significantly changed since its inception, hence the definition of “Japanese Whisky” was simplistic. As long as the product is bottled in Japan, “Japanese Whisky” can be used on the label. The lenient applicable law for whisky labelling in Japan, compared to its counterparts in Scotland and the United States, created a confusing and blurry category for Japanese Whisky. Although many producers are transparent and open about the content of their products, many are unfortunately not.

The broad definition of the labelling term “Japanese Whisky” made it hard to distinguish if the product is actually a whisky produced in Japan or any spirits bottled in Japan. At the beginning of this year, the Japan Spirits & Liqueurs Makers Association has announced stricter rules for using the term Japanese Whisky on the label that is applicable from April 2021 onwards. In a nutshell, Japanese Whisky is only allowed on the label if the whisky is produced in Japan, including the fermentation, distillation, maturation and bottling processes. With these new rules, Japanese whisky will truly represent a whisky produced in Japan.

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WHEN EAST MEETS WEST One of the producers that has been open about the source of its whiskies from the very beginning is the newly established Shizuoka Distillery. The distillery project was born during a trip to Scotland in 2012 by whisky enthusiast Taiko Nakamura, owner of Gaia Flow. Throughout a distillery tour on Islay, Nakamura was so inspired by the surroundings and whisky making, that a dream was formed. Soon after returning to Japan, Nakamura started exploring possible sites for the new distillery. Initially, his focus was on Shizuoka prefecture, as this is the area where Nakamura grew up. However, it was extremely challenging as Shizuoka prefecture is a protected mountainous area, so the search had to be expanded over the entire Japan. Until one day Nakamura came across the current location. Surrounded by lots of green and close to a high quality water source, this site is perfect for a distillery. City officials haven’t used this site for over 25 years, but they agreed to lease this plot of land to Nakamura for his dream. It must be fate! From the very first beginning, the concept of the distillery was East meets West. It is Nakamura’s ambition to produce Japanese whisky surrounded by lots of green and mountains, just like the ones in Scotland! With the perfect location secured, the design of the distillery could begin. Shizuoka prefecture is known for its forestry industry and it was only natural to incorporate the local material in the architecture. Perfectly harmonised with the surrounding nature, Nakamura opted for the local grown cypress wood for the building. 122

Merci Magazine - Summer Special Edition

Not only the outside structure is built with local materials, part of the whisky production process also uses the local wood. Wooden wash backs are traditionally used during the fermentation process, and along with 4 wash backs made of Oregon pine wood, the Shizuoka distillery has 6 wash backs made of local cedar wood. In 2015, all the equipment of the demolished Karuizawa distillery was offered at a public auction. It must have been destiny, when Nakamura successfully purchased the lot. Although most of the equipment was too old to be used, a few items are now installed at the Shizuoka distillery, including the malt mill and one of the pot stills. The distillery has three pot stills: a wash still from the demolished Karuizawa distillery and the wash and spirit stills from Scotland. Along with the well-known ex-Karuizawa still, another exciting feature of Shizuoka distillery is the heat system used for distillation. The ex-Karuizawa pot still is steam-heated, while the new Forsyth’s pot still is “wood-fired” or “direct fired”. There are not many distilleries in the world that uses wood-fire stills. Shizuoka distillery was completed in August 2016 and by the end of that year, the first spirit was produced.

THE FIRST SHIZUOKA SINGLE MALT After a long wait, the first whisky was released at the end of 2020: Prologue K. Apart from several Shizuoka Discovery Sets consisting of new make spirits, the Prologue K is the first single malt bottling released by the distillery. Named after the ex-Karuizawa wash still, this release is limited to Japan, with an outturn of 5,000 bottles. Prologue K is a “single wash still” bottling, meaning the first distillation took place in the ex-Karuizawa still. Made from a combination of imported and local Japanese barley, the Prologue K has been matured for at least 3 years in first fill bourbon barrels. A delicate whisky that expresses fresh and fruity flavours with a hint of peat smoke. Still a young whisky, but with great potential!

Interested in visiting the distillery? Shizuoka distillery hosts distillery tours up to 5 days a week. Booking is mandatory. For more information please visit: https://shizuoka-distillery.jp/tour/ International releases available at www.timelessandtasty.com

The second release, the Prologue W, has just been released in June 2021. As the name already suggests, this single malt whisky is from the wood-fired wash still. Similar to the Prologue K, this release is also a single wash still bottling. At the distillery, they believe that the woodfired still gives a heavier, more powerful and sweet sprit compared to the ex-Karuizawa was still. Both releases have been extremely well received in the whisky community and we are just at the start of a wonderful journey for the Shizuoka distillery. We can’t wait for more releases to come and share the dream of Nakamura to drink a 30 years Shizuoka Single Malt together! 123

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Articles inside

Japanese Liquid Gold

What Would Nietzche be thinking? Notes on Charles Chau's Upcoming Exhibition in Tokyo

Pure Sensibility without Boundaries - Myonghi Kang’s

Aman Tokyo - The Secret Garden in Kyoto

DesignArt Tokyo - Five Young Talents

The Varve Museum - Unveiling 70,000 years of Terrestrial History

A Place called Home

The memory of stones

Ensue