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Architects: Takashi Niwa Architects
- Area: 840 m²
- Year: 2023
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Photographs:Hiroyuki Oki
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Manufacturers: Aica, Vietceramics
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Lead Architects: Takashi Niwa
Yazawa Hanoi -The Scenery with Iron - The fascination of yakiniku (Japanese style BBQ) is to enjoy the way raw meat changes its state as it is cooked on the griddle. Yazawa Yakiniku Restaurant puts great effort into its ingredients and meat grilling equipment, especially its griddle and grill, which directly leads to the quality of its food. In considering the design for their new restaurant in Hanoi, iron as a material for multiple uses was focused on creating an original place that encompasses everything from the landscape of the food to the architectural space. The iron itself and the things that are being changed by the iron are contrasted and fused. A landscape scene expressed by cast iron, Bengala (iron oxide pigment), iron bars, and plates, as well as spaces colored by iron, was created to let things, people, and spaces interact with each other. The site is a typical French villa in Hanoi that has been renovated and extended repeatedly. Renovating the building by giving it the power of iron in various forms creates a contrast between old and new.
Iron creates contrasts between old and new - Hanoi is the capital of Vietnam and the country's political and cultural center. The city reflects the complex history of Vietnam, with a mixture of different styles of buildings from different periods under different rulers. The lives of modern people have been painted on top of these layers, creating a chaotic yet powerful appearance. The layers of history seem to appear on the surface of the city. The site is located on a street lined with French colonial villas in a quiet and rich green area in the heart of Hanoi. As in Western cities, streets in Vietnam are named after famous people in history. The existing building was the residence of a politician for whom a major street in Hanoi is named. A 100+ years old, the French colonial-style building has undergone numerous renovations and additions, but the cream-colored exterior walls and ordered columns have been preserved.
Interactive space scenes overlap to create a landscape - The old part of the existing building was widely structurally reinforced, and a large void was created above the open kitchen in the center of the building. People enjoy the excellent skills of the chef in the open kitchen, and the sequence of the restaurant will be followed from there. There is a 30-seat main dining area on the second floor, and privacy-oriented space and compartments total 62 seats, giving different characteristics and variety. Moving back and forth between the private dining space and the public circulation space, a landscape layering various space scenes will be experienced.
Interactive space created by iron screen - In Vietnam, porous walls and decorative fences of wrought iron have traditionally been used on building facades to cope with the high temperature and humidity of the thermal environment. These architectural items contribute to keeping a moderate sense of distance and relationship between people in the city. Cast iron has developed as a material and construction method generally used in Hanoi since the French Colonial period. Taking advantage of its potential to create an original iron screen for this project. A 135 x 125 mm cast iron emblem using the initial "Y" of the restaurant’s name was made and welded together as if it’s woven three-dimensionally. The emblem, which has a three-dimensional curved surface, was mass-produced in cast iron at a local manufacturing plant using a 3D printer mock-up as mold. The emblem is used for lighting, tabletops, the store's logo, and the wine showcase to express the store's identity in every scene.
The accent wall surface is finished in the red clay color of Bengala to paint the eating space, open kitchen, and circulation space around the atrium. On the other hand, the vivid blue color of Indigo, a natural dye, was used on the walls to contrast the bathroom and circulation areas. Dying Walls by Indigo had many steps to be completed. Starting from making a special plaster best suited to the indigo, mixing indigo, and then making several layers of plaster as substrate. After drying them well, I finally dried these walls by hand many times repeatedly. This was intended to create a dramatic change of scene many times in the sequence of experiences inside the restaurant, starting from the entrance. Bengala, also known as red iron oxide, is a pigment mainly composed of ferric oxide, which is one of the states in which iron is transformed.
On the exterior, a frame cut from a steel plate contrasts with the glass and stone, foreshadowing the various spaces woven by iron items in the building. The hanging light above the open kitchen, the frames of the openings, the railings, and the balustrades are also made of iron, expressing the power of iron here and there. The scenery in a restaurant where one enjoys the changing ingredients on the iron obtained more depth in meaning and space by bringing various iron landscapes connected to the local culture into the place. An interactive experience in this space, which will be a backdrop for the precious time spent by guests, is expected.
