1616 / arita japan’s New Flagship Opens in Arita

A rich palette of organic textures and colours characterises porcelain brand 1616 / arita japan’s new flagship store, designed by Teruhiro Yanagihara to reflect the brand’s fusion of precise craft and beautiful natural materials

Porcelain is not confined to cups, plates and bowls at 1616 / arita japan’s new flagship store in the famed ceramics hub of Arita, Kyushu, designed by creative director Teruhiro Yanagihara’s studio. The material is all around, quite literally, with walls and ceilings also plastered in a mix of porcelain stone and local soil. 

The 1616 / arita japan brand was launched by pottery company Momota Touen in 2012, with creative direction by Osaka-based Yanagihara — a move that has breathed new life into the small town, whose porcelain heritage dates back four centuries. The brand is defined by its contemporary perspective — minimalist design and precise craft fused with the beauty of natural materials — with a raft of collaborations, from Scholten & Baijings to Pierre Charpin, placing Arita firmly on the global design map.

The new flagship, spanning approximately 300 square metres, is a physical reflection of the brand. Key to its concept is a home-inspired layout (plus a cafe serving Weekenders Coffee from Kyoto) for visitors to experience the beauty of touching and using the products first-hand. ‘Instead of using display shelves to sell Arita porcelain, we designed elements for daily life, such as a kitchen, a living room with a fireplace, and a bathroom, so visitors can imagine living with the pieces,’ Yanagihara explains.

The one-storey space — located within a hub of other Arita showrooms — is a clean-lined collage of warm blocks of earthy, primal materials loosely broken up by minimal wall partitions. At the front is a platform of sliced bricks, encased neatly in black-coated iron plates, upon which the contemporary matte white forms of a selection of 1616 / arita pieces are displayed.

All around are walls in rich terracotta shades, crafted by local plasterers who blended the porcelain stone used by local ceramicists with Kyushu soil. The walls’ organic texture is sharpened into focus by the copper plates attached to the side edges. The ceilings were made with the same plastering soil but using finer stones, creating a subtly gradated sense of texture.

A catalogue of colours and surfaces in natural materials complement the walls. Many of these elements are from Scandinavia, a key aesthetic influence for the brand, including expanses of light Douglas wood flooring from Danish brand Dinesen, a minimalist terrazzo bench with a cut-out fireplace that features cushions by Raf Simons for Kvadrat, and counter seats by Denmark-based Skagerak. A row of Pierre Charpin’s 1616 / arita plates are displayed on the wall, their abstract splashes of colour complementing the natural background of organic materials. All of this is illuminated by discreetly atmospheric lighting, designed by Nara-based New Light Pottery.

‘We used primitive and raw materials, like soil, stone and solid wood, as much as possible, alongside primitive construction methods such as brickwork and plastering,’ Yanagihara says. ‘This space has a similar character to Arita ware.’

Text / Danielle Demetriou
Images / Takumi Ota