RICCA Sakura in a bar

Ryohei Kanda's RICCA Sakura in a bar represents a distinguished achievement in contemporary hospitality design, wherein the ephemeral beauty of cherry blossom season has been translated into permanent architectural experience through an extraordinary suspended installation comprising thousands of individual petal-form elements that cascade across the ceiling plane, creating an immersive environment that evokes the transcendent moment of hanami, the traditional contemplation of flowering trees that holds profound cultural significance within aesthetic traditions emphasizing the poignant beauty of transience. The technical accomplishment of suspending such a dense yet visually permeable canopy demonstrates considerable engineering sophistication balanced with poetic sensibility, as each element has been positioned to create naturalistic organic clustering while maintaining the structural integrity necessary for a permanent installation in a functional commercial environment. The chromatic strategy employs a sophisticated gradient from deep burgundy through rose to gold, with reflective surfaces that respond to the ambient lighting conditions, ensuring the installation transforms throughout operating hours as natural and artificial light sources shift in intensity and temperature. The spatial organization establishes a clear processional axis terminated by a mirror that multiplies the installation infinitely, transforming the relatively intimate dimensions into a seemingly boundless flowering grove, while the bilateral arrangement of bar counters and illuminated display shelving provides functional grounding beneath the dreamlike canopy. The interplay between the organic suspended mass and the refined material palette of polished wood, veined marble, and crystalline glassware creates a contemplative dialogue between nature and culture, impermanence and permanence, suggesting how design can capture and extend moments of extraordinary beauty. One might consider how this environment invites guests to experience the meditative quality of seasonal change within the context of social gathering and hospitality.

RICCA is a bar, located at Kagurazaka.　 Even now, there are Japanese traditional atmosphere and alley in this town. I created this design to express Japanese aesthetic sense. In Japan, there is cultural event is known as “Hanami”, which means “cherry blossom viewing”. This unique event is happened only in couples of week of early spring. Inspired by this moment, I designed this bar with beauty, glamorous, strength and fragility of Hanami.