Japanese architect Sou Fujimoto is known for clean-lined, minimalist work. So his work for a Hong Kong outpost of Potato Head, a combined retail space, restaurant, and coffee shop, can seem like a dramatic departure from form, bursting as it does with color and pattern. Look more closely, of course, and you’ll see Fujimoto’s signature structural aesthetic.
The storefront, which is covered in a geometric pattern that calls to mind traditional screen and fence motifs, opens right onto the street. At center stage, a multi-tiered metal display apparatus, similar in form to Fujimoto's 2013 Serpentine Galleries pavilion in London, takes up residence, showing off wares for sale.
Inside the retail portion of the space, the decor includes stainless steel planters suspended from the ceiling, a mix of classic Indonesian wood furniture and sleek midcentury modern items. The restaurant, Kaum, takes a different tack, and is an explosion of colors and patterns: Painted panels of wood line the walls and ceiling, and join plush, deep-blue velvet banquettes and geometric seating that calls to mind works by industrial designer Pierre Jeanneret. Take a look.
- sou fujimoto outfits multi-purpose venue for potato head hong kong [Designboom]
- All Interior Design coverage [Curbed]