World Design Spotlight: Nozomi by Masquespacio

Nozomi is a Japanese word meaning “dream or wish fulfilled” although, at the same time, it is the name given to the pioneering high-speed bullet train. This duality is at the heart of the interior design project completed in a very special place by Masquespacio, a studio specialized in conveying ideas, images and concepts. 

Masquespacio, formed by Ana Milena Hernández as creative director and Christophe Penasse as marketing director, proposes a way of defining interior design that understands the projection of spaces as the fusion of design and marketing. Their carefully meditated designs have positioned them at the summit of the Spanish creative panorama. That is so that Nozomi was one of the 10 best restaurants in the world at the 2015 Restaurant & Bar Design Awards. A project that was the turning point for the launch of Masquespacio to the world.

Nozomi, how could it be otherwise, is the name of a Japanese restaurant located in the Valencian neighbourhood of Ruzafa. It recreates a small Japanese universe in its 233 square metres. A universe that encompasses the food of a typical street in Kyoto, a field of cherry trees or a high-speed train. 

The requirements for this design and the guidelines given to the creative studio were as ambitious as the idea itself. 

“It had to be timeless and evocative of Japan, as well as incorporating the two personalities of the proprietors. An emotional part and another rational part. We set out to achieve this aim with the mix of materials and details used in the design. From the more emotional wood, with its representation in the form of Japanese shops and houses, to the rational part, based on the effect of cement, which clearly represents a raw street,” explains Penasse.

The greatest challenge, they point out, was understanding Japanese culture and being able to transfer it to the interior design of the premises. Upon receiving this commission, the team set up research workshops to get to know the client in detail and learn to understand the business. 

“Since we hadn’t travelled to the country before the project, we had to carry out extensive research which included reading books and watching documentaries on Japan in general, and especially on sushi,” points out Ana Milena Hernández.

“We studied photographs of the most authentic Japanese streets in order to create a metaphoric reinterpretation of them. Over time, for many people, it has come to represent a typical street of Kyoto. This is mainly because that is where the most traditional houses of Japan are conserved today,” she explains.

The sustainability and durability of the project, completed in 2014, were also two requirements that they took into account when completing it. “Thanks to the use of materials that age well, such as wood and cement, the premises have lost nothing of their charm. Since it is a high-end restaurant, we wanted to think about the durability of the aesthetics over time. It has now been functioning perfectly for seven years.”

Beginning with the brand image, we can see how this durability is represented as “rational contemporary” using western typography and “emotional classical” via the hiragana or Japanese script in the logo.

The interior design also plays significantly with this duality: the rational contemporary part, through the pure state of the cement and the grey tones present in the most structural parts, such as walls, ceilings and floors; whilst the emotional classical side is introduced thanks to the carpentry, with handcrafted finishes and the warmth of the natural woods used. 

Upon arrival at the restaurant one can clearly appreciate these aspects in the façade and the entrance, which clearly represents classical Japanese carpentry. 

Going through the door into the restaurant we see how a central cube creates two corridors leading to the dining area, incorporating decorative elements and the bathrooms and warehouse. These corridors create a continuous and open flow very typical of the architecture of this oriental country. 

At the aesthetic level, a Japanese village street has been created, reinterpreted using different modules that represent, among other things, a market, a chemist’s shop, doors and windows. The roofs in turn appeal to the more contemporary and rational side, with a clearly Japanese inclination. 

The idea behind the first part of the restaurant is to enable customers to experience walking along a Japanese street, feeling surprised by its beauty and enthusing in all its constructive details before reaching the main restaurant area, where they can enjoy not only the sushi, but also a unique experience of sitting under a cherry tree as though they were in a Japanese courtyard. 

From their seats, each one of the diners can lift their gaze towards the show offered by the sushi bar, which reinterprets a traditional street food cart, known throughout the world as the original fast-food stall. Meanwhile, the cherry blossom, inspired by origami, flowers at leisure. 

Lastly, the private area is a space where separate ambiences can be generated to achieve more intimacy but without totally isolating diners from the show and maintaining the shadow play generated by the lighting, also inspired by the most minimalist Japan, which emphasizes the irregular and unique woodwork. 

“The project must have a connecting theme from beginning to end. It tells a story through space and offers that experience. For us, that is what distinguishes a good design from one that is not so good.” 

Photography: David Rodríguez and Carlos Huecas (Cualiti).