INTERIOR
Inner sanctum
The days of sitting
on the tatami floor are over. Eyeing a chic Italian sofa, Stuart Braun explores the latest
addition to Tokyo’s growing interiors collection.
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Time & Style'
vision of "comfortable" living
Photos courtesy of Time & Style |
The average Tokyo bedroom or
living room might not be much bigger than six mats, but that hasn’t stopped the
city’s residents from filling any available space with the latest designer furniture
and housewares. From Muji to Idée, interior collections are in, and the love affair
continues at Time & Style. Emerging out of Prestige Style in Berlin in 1990, T&S
launched as a warehouse in Jiyugaoka in October 1997. Commandeering its own design team
and eight “associate” designers to construct a vision of “Comfortable
Quality Life,” Time & Style Home in Jiyugaoka and Time & Style Galleria
Aoyama were opened to the public in October last year.
“A comfortable place,” reads the T&S PR blurb, “it could be a place to
listen to music, to read a book or spend time with family. It could be a casual time to
feel something together…We believe that there is a comfortable quality of life in the
places that are simple, functional and balanced.” T&S’s showrooms are a
testament to this vision, exhibiting minimalist, earthy and practical furniture and
While T&S act as an exhibition space for these
“artists,” a number of in-house designers are creating an original collection of
T&S furniture and housewares, thereby giving continuity to the store’s overall
design vision. |
accessories-including crockery, vases, lamps, CDs (mostly jazz), audio equipment, books
and even children’s toys. In addition to featuring a variety of import wares from
names like Campeggi (Italian sofas) and Bernard Uvarnesson (French-designed tables),
T&S has made a point of working with some of Japan’s visionary designers. Names
like Katayama and Kurokawa, synonymous these days with the new guard of Japanese design,
were two of the eight associates initially employed to fill out Time & Style’s
innovative houseware range.
Inner desire
Currently working with H-design, Katayama’s fulfilled T&S’s hope to create
simple and high-quality interior goods. His minimalist aesthetic can be seen in the sleek
yet functional shelving and storage units evident throughout the T&S showroom.
T&S’s Planner, Kanako Fukuhara, says that local designers such as Shin Nishibori
have been recruited for their “individuality” and, in Nishibori’s case,
“use of humor.” Having designed CD and stereo cabinets for Muji, Nishibori has
produced an unconventional assortment of tableware ranges-see his “Gifts from the
year of 2000.” While T&S acts as an exhibition space for these
“artists,” a number of in-house designers are creating an original collection of
T&S furniture and housewares, thereby giving continuity to the store’s overall
design vision. While relatively new to the design scene, original T&S designs have
already appeared at international trade shows including the ICFF (International
Contemporary Furniture Fair) in New York and the Salone Internazionale del Mobile in
Milan.
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Dining in style |
T&S has taken on some
interesting, and often relatively unknown, designers from Asia and Europe. Currently, they
are the exclusive agents for the chic Mutech audio range, a South Korean brand reminiscent
of Bang and Olufsen and designed by Japan’s own audio design guru, Iwasaki. The KPM
range of fine “Berlin” ceramics make a distinct but understated complement to
the T&S furniture collection, while the Harri Koskinen-designed “Block”
lamp, a featured item from Design House Stockholm, is a world-renowned interior accessory.
Equally impressive is the funky wood and laminated tables from French designer Bernard
Uvarnesson, objects that sit well with the modular Campeggi sofas and couches also on
offer.
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| From books to vases: some of
T&S's extensive housewares |
More than showrooms, T&S Home and Galleria are fully integrated interior
“complexes.” The Galleria in Aoyama, for example, incorporates a gallery space
with a cafEthe vegetarian Cafe 8 sits on the third floor-with the latter acting as an
“interactive showroom” through which chairs, tables, artwork and housewares
alike can be displayed. T&S Home in Jiyugaoka also has a cafEDesafinado-along with a
very large warehouse space that holds most of the T&S furniture range.
For the average Tokyoite, comparable interior houses can be prohibitively expensive.
T&S, however, maintains its affordability. “Our prices are very reasonable,”
says Fukuhara. “Compared to other interior emporiums in Aoyama such as Idée
we’re very competitive, we want to make sure people have access to our product.”
But beyond price, T&S’s extensive collection of local and overseas design, along
with their integrative approach to interiors retailing, make them well worth a look.
Time &
Style Galleria
4-27-15 Minami Aoyama, Minato-ku. Tel: 03-5464-3205. Open: 11am-8pm daily (except every
third Wed).
Time &
Style Home
3-23-20 Yakumo, Meguro-Ku. Tel: 03-5731-7023. Open: 11am-7pm Mon-Fri, 11am-8pm Sat, Sun
and hols. www.timeandstyle.com
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