Architects Kengo Kuma and associates have gone way past expectations and have installed a Starbucks coffee shop on the approach to a Shinto shrine in Dazaifu, Japan. The location of this Starbucks coffee shop has its own personality and character, as it stands on the main approach to the Dazaifu Tenmangu, an important shrine in Japan. Established in 1919 A.D., the sanctuary has been worshiped as “the God for Examination,” and receives about 2 million visitors a year who wish their success.

This for me is sheer genius and such an unusual space to have a Starbucks in. 

Over 2000 wooden batons line this architectural masterpiece. These batons create a diagonal woven lattice that spikes beyond the recessed glass façade.

Traditional Japanese buildings surround the path to the shrine. The project intended to make a structure that harmonizes with the townscape by using a unique system of weaving thin wooden planks diagonally.

The building is made of 2,000 stick-like parts in the sizes of 1.3m – 4m length and 6cm section, the total length of the sticks reach as far as 4.4km.

The signage for the coffee shop snuggles amongst the beams, whilst a strip of planted reeds mark the entrance.

This I must see.
 

Via: dezeen.com

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