Interview about Tokumitsu Taanto Public Restroom, winner of the A' Interior Space, Retail and Exhibition Design Award 2025
This project incorporates Kanazawa gold leaf, a traditional craft, into spatial design, blending historical techniques with a refined aesthetic. The Golden Restroom features over 3,000 gold leaf tiles arranged against a dark backdrop, with carefully designed lighting that accentuates their glow. By utilizing a Unesco listed technique, the design reflects the dialogue between Japanese heritage and present day craftsmanship, offering a space where tradition is thoughtfully expressed. The interplay of materials and light enhances the atmosphere, allowing visitors to experience the artistry.
View detailed images, specifications, and award details on A' Design Award & Competition website.
View Design DetailsThe journey began with a desire to reinterpret Kanazawa’s UNESCO-listed gold leaf craftsmanship beyond ornamentation. We sought to express its spiritual luminosity in a minimal, contemporary architectural language. By integrating over 3,000 hand-applied gold leaf tiles, the space becomes a dialogue between the past and present—honoring Kaga’s heritage while reimagining it through light, proportion, and silence.
We conducted detailed experiments analyzing the reflectivity and diffusion of light on gold surfaces at varying angles. The goal was not brightness, but depth. By adjusting the lighting to 35°–40°, we achieved an ever-shifting glow that reveals the gold’s micro-texture and subtle shadow gradients. The resulting atmosphere changes like a living organism as one moves through the space.
Public restrooms are often treated as purely functional spaces, but I wanted to redefine them as places of aesthetic and cultural reflection. Tokumitsu Taanto is not a restroom—it is a micro-architecture that celebrates Kaga’s artisanal pride. The golden enclosure creates a sanctuary-like experience, transforming a mundane routine into a contemplative encounter with Japanese craftsmanship.
This project demonstrates how traditional techniques can redefine everyday typologies. The recognition from the A’ Design Award affirms that even a small public facility can embody cultural value and artistic dignity. I hope this inspires architects to view traditional crafts not as nostalgic, but as living mediums that enrich daily life.
Applying gold leaf to 200mm porcelain tiles presented numerous challenges: surface tension, adhesive absorption, and static charge interference. Collaborating with Kanazawa artisans, we developed a special undercoat and micro-suction process to stabilize adhesion. These technical experiments ultimately led to a new hybrid method—where tradition meets precision engineering.
The key principle was “compressing infinity.” Within 25 square meters, we used light, reflection, and proportion to evoke boundless depth. The corridor’s perspective alignment and the continuous gold surfaces dissolve spatial boundaries, making the visitor feel enveloped by radiance rather than confined by walls.
Our studio philosophy is to uncover the latent identity of each project. Here, that identity lay in the spirit of Kaga craftsmanship—refinement born from repetition. By interpreting that precision and devotion through minimal geometry and light, we preserved tradition while revealing its modern resonance.
We discovered that gold leaf behaves almost like a living membrane—its tone changes with humidity, temperature, and even the viewer’s distance. This sensitivity became the core of the design. Rather than control it, we embraced its variability, allowing the space to breathe with natural fluctuations of light and air.
The initial concept was to create “a chamber of light detached from gravity.” Through controlled geometry, hidden fixtures, and perfectly balanced luminance, the gold walls seem to hover, making the visitor feel suspended within light. It is both tangible and immaterial—a poetic expression of Japanese transience and serenity.
Tokumitsu Taanto suggests a path where traditional crafts become catalysts for architectural innovation. As we move toward a sustainable future, I believe the reinterpretation of heritage through material intelligence and light will play a crucial role. The project is a statement that craftsmanship, when reimagined, can illuminate the architecture of tomorrow.
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