Swedish architecture firm Claesson Koivisto Rune’s design for the Ceramika flagship store in Matsumoto, Japan, puts all the focus on the ceramic items on display inside. Their goal was to “create a strict, yet humble, space. As an enhancing frame for the ceramic objects on display…”
The showroom is in the center of Matsumoto in a former city hall building by the river. The firm completely stripped the interior of the old building to create what they call a “deliberately simple” space with meticulously designed details arranged on a strict repetitive grid. A layout of the interior is pictured below. The colors and materials used in the interior were selected by the firm to harmonize with the mostly blue and white ceramic pieces within the showroom. The project was completed in 2013.
The firm was founded in 1995 in Stockholm. They give both architecture and design the same priority, but beyond that the firm denies having any rigid design philosophy at its core, “… (As) we see it from inside – our work is without any clear direction. The only things that are important to us are to develop, to improve and never to repeat.”
Above image: The Ceramika flagship showroom in Matsumoto, Japan, designed by Claesson Koivisto Rune in 2013. Courtesy of the architects. Photograph by Takumi Ota.
Interior shots of the Ceramika flagship showroom in Matsumoto, Japan, designed by Claesson Koivisto Rune in 2013. Photographs by Takumi Ota.
Outdoor seating area and floor layout of the Ceramika showroom. Images from Claesson Koivisto Rune.
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