As the area surrounding Shibuya station continues to develop over the years, the streetscape has changed drastically as if made new. The rapid appearance of new buildings and stores wrapped in brand-new shiny finishes constantly reminds us of the mass production, mass consumption, and mass disposal of our current consumer society that we cannot ignore. We regret watching the city streets become more and more homogenous as a result.

Meanwhile, we received a request for interior design for a men’s hair care brand in MIYASHITA PARK, which is a commercial facility integrated with a park. Looking at the initial renderings of MIYASHITA PARK, we felt like it was like a three-dimensional alley. The architecture itself looks like a train station, with raw finishes on both the interior and exterior without any unnecessary decorations. People can move around freely in and out, or they can choose to relax and linger for a while. Imagine a commercial facility that emphasizes on people’s relaxation and experience rather than trying to create a shiny box that excessively stimulates consumers’ purchasing appetites. The shop may be indoors but shouldn’t the atmosphere be more like a corner shop on the streets of Shibuya? We began to design with this image in mind.

DENIS TOKYO is a grooming and life style brand for men.
The brand pays as much attention to the packaging details as it does with its product formula. DENIS TOKYO is the top choice for many men looking for stylish yet high quality products.
The store we are designing this time needs to have a hair salon as well as a display space to sell their original hair products.

The product-selling space is planned to be at the front of the store. By pushing the display props into the common corridor of the shopping facility, we hope to achieve an open atmosphere for the store and stimulate the public space at the same time. The hair salon is at the back of the sore, on a raised platform. By differentiating the height of the two functions, we can ensure that the sight-line of the customers in either area does not cross.

When designing the display fixtures of their particular products, we chose to use rugged and solid materials that can be found on the streets: concrete blocks and steel reinforcement bars. We tried to create a space that beautifully re-edits the rough and masculine materials to advocate our opinion on the current consumerism-driven cityscape, which is also suitable for the store environment as well as DENIS TOKYO’s brand concept.