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Snapshot

Kamikatz Public House

Kamikatsu, Japan

By Naomi Pollock, FAIA
Kamikatz Public House

Photo © Koji Fujii / Nacasa&Partners Inc

Kamikatsu Public House

Photo © Koji Fujii / Nacasa&Partners Inc

Kamikatz Public House

Photo © Koji Fujii / Nacasa&Partners Inc

Kamikatz Public House

Photo © Koji Fujii / Nacasa&Partners Inc

Kamikatz Public House
Kamikatsu Public House
Kamikatz Public House
Kamikatz Public House
June 1, 2017

Architects & Firms

Hiroshi Nakamura & NAP

 

Defined by a 26-foot-tall patchwork of repurposed windows, the Kamikatz Public House takes recycling to new heights. The combined brewery, bar, and general store is located in Kamikatsu, a Shikoku island town in southeast Japan with a population of 1,500, a commitment to zero waste, and, consequently, 34 categories of recycling. Practicing what the town preaches, the Tokyo architect Hiroshi Nakamura incorporated a wide variety of discovered or discarded items into his design. Arranged linearly, the building holds the beer factory at its easternmost end, followed by the shop and then the pub, whose windowed west wall fills the space with natural light. This facade is made of 71 windows salvaged from abandoned houses and installed in two layers for insulation. Elsewhere, derelict farm equipment is reborn as furniture, empty bottles suspended overhead become a chandelier, and deer antlers serve as handles for the draft beer taps. Says Nakamura, “The histories and memories of these irregularly shaped objects make them precious.”

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KEYWORDS: Japan restaurants

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Contributing Editor Naomi Pollock, FAIA, is the author of Japanese Design Since 1945: A Complete Sourcebook and the forthcoming Vanishing Japan: Modern Architecture Gone But Not Forgotten,

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