ARKHE | A BEAUTY SALON INSPIRED BY GREEK PHILOSOPHY
It’s hard to represent the ‘cosmos’, and many designers and architects have over the years interpreted the concept differently. One of the latest groups of architects to give the concept a crack hail from Japan, and based their design around the Greek philosophy of arkhe (the cosmos), in which the element of water plays a central role as a giver of life to everything.
Based on that, Moriyuki Ochiai and his team have given a unique feel to a Beauty Salon east of Tokyo, using recyclable aluminum sheets to represent the element of water. Filling the space with elegant curves, the sheets reflect light in a manner similar to the sparkling surface of a stream. And, according to Ochiai “projects an image of clarity as a beauty salon in pursuit of the origin of beauty.” A tad artsy in definition, but one has to admit it does look pretty damn cool.
(photos by atsushi ishida /nacasa & partners)
The flexible aluminum sheets can be easily detached from the ceiling and rearranged. This was also a consideration for the potential of relocating – the can be easily reinstalled in a new location, effectively reducing the cost of moving.
