IDPA Japan Design Award

2025 International Design Pioneer Award | Japan Tokyo
Days
Hours
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《KEXI CAFÉ》

by Qiang design

Project Description


The project is located in an older neighborhood where Wenzhou's older generation resides. The generally low structure allows for sunlight to enter, and although it is close to the community's busy market, it frames a quiet area. There is also a route that is "the greater hermit does so in the city," which must be characterized as an elegant and exciting experience.
The design is sought to separate the area from the neighboring stores without elevating it above the environment. The floor at the entrance is paved with horseshoe stones from the pavement, and the space serves as an inward retret.
The line between inside and outside is blurred by the open 24-hour outdoor seating, which lowers the ground level. The architectural approach fills in the gray tones and outlines the structure, creating a colorful geometric block.
Enter, reaching the second sequence of space, and expressing the idea of the second layer of space in the form of sinking in a small area where the building's volume and color are mainly uniform, playing the functional division of the level of ups and downs according to the ground's drop.
The behavior of people entering from the outside to the inside, in the ups and downs of the steps, is organically introduced into it. Although the area is tiny, the reduced form of separation proportionately releases more usable space.
More freedom of expression is possible thanks to the wrap-around sitting design, which includes clamshell-style storage space beneath the seat for efficient use of available space.
The design purposefully keeps the building's original floor slab and load-bearing column. The rough texture of cement clashes with the softness and delicate expression of wood and is combined with the neutralizing expression of old metal. It is repeatedly interspersed and presented in various materials and is ultimately expressed as a visual retrospective under the Art Nouveau movement.
Coffee tasting is a relatively routine, small activity. The aroma and slight bitterness of the entrance to a cup of coffee are indistinguishable whether drinking it in a tall, elegant café or on a seat by the side of the road.
The design and construction of a tiny coffee shop with only 20 square meters is another attempt to appropriate for the current consumption concept. Turning the area into a social space filled with the aroma of coffee helps people get closer to one another and serves as a temporary "kill time" location in a hurried city.

Qiang design


The staff at Qiang Design Office is forward-thinking and integrates systems for supporting interior, soft decoration, and product integration. Advocating structural aesthetics and distinctive design methods as the key concepts, along with the current brand, commercial, residential, and various positioning needs, serve clients in various industries with a unique presentation of spatial effects.

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