tokyo llove hotel part 2

the registration desk image © designboom

LLove, the exhibition where you can stay for the night. based on the japanese phenomenon of the love hotel, this pop up LLove hotel in tokyo was created by eight japanese and eight dutch designers with themed rooms that are installations, where people can actually make a reservation and stay over night. the result is a mixture of different styles and design sensibilities under one roof – very different experiences that somehow come together effortlessly. architect jo nagasaka is the producer of ‘llove’. he wishes to create a yurui (japanese for ‘loose’, ‘informal’) hotel. reasonably priced, open-mided hotels are quite common abroad, but not in japan. the ‘llove’ project is giving him the opportunity to do so. ‘Llove hotel’ is the realization of suzanne oxenaar, director of the lloyd hotel in amsterdam.

during tokyo designers week 2010, designboom booked every night a different double room installation. the rooms seemed a bit uncomfortable at first with little space to walk on and with no private bath (communal onsen-like bathrooms were on the first floor). nevertheless, it has been a fun experience: ‘the space does not adapt itself to you, but you adapt to it. ‘ this is part 2 of our photo report. see part 1 here. — stefan scholten and carole baijings (scholten & baijings) had painted the tatami mats in room 306 white. this room, white with pink accents adorned with illustrations on the wall was very popular with japanese visitors.

image © designboom

‘fauteuil 7400’ for gelderland image © designboom

‘colour wood’ tables for karimoku image © designboom

scholten & baijings decided to focus on fertility issues in their space, ‘because what if you are single and want to have a child? or you are a happy couple that is having difficulty conceiving?’ they said,

‘scientific’ illustrations drawn on the wall image © designboom

‘scientific’ illustrations image © designboom

image © designboom

‘butte’ boxes by scholten & baijings for established & sons filled with condoms and lollipops image © designboom

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the 305 ‘fertility’ room by joep van lieshout seems to be inside the red light district …

entrance image © designboom

bed cover with fertility graphic prints image © designboom

images © designboom

image © designboom

resin sculpture structure of the bed image © designboom

fertility lamps images © designboom

— WiFi was available in the cafe, which was the meeting place for everybody visiting the venue and for us a nice place to check emails late at night. food is prepared with ingredients from the nara prefecture (the café is open to public). direction: labo85/ yoko shimada, design : jo nagasaka of sschemata, graphic wallpaper: thonik and furniture design : A+Sa.

the cafe photography: takumi ota

the wallpaper at entrance and cafe was designed by graphic agency thonik. the colours red and pink taking over the space. the illustrations depict dutch windmills and japan’s mount fuji (which explodes with hearts), a ship filled with nelson mandela and mother theresa, among other people who can be considered as symbols of love. the ship refers to the name of the dutch vessel ‘liefde’ that reached the shores of japan in 1600 marking the start of the 400-year bond between the netherlands and japan. reindeer, watermelon instead refer to the ancient city of nara.

double rooms – dutch designers: 305 joep van lieshout; 306 scholten & baijings; 307 richard hutten; 308 pieke bergmans japanese designers: 301 hideyuki nakayama; 302 yuko nagayama; 303 jo nagasaka; 304 ryuji nakamura single rooms – 309-314 jo nagasaka & LLove creative team. thonik: design of wallpaper in the entrance and café.

concept director: suzanne oxenaar

architectural director: jo nagasaka

supervision: lloyd hotel & cultural embassy

executive committee: jo nagasaka, sschemata architecture office yoko shimada, Labo85 nobuyuki fukui, roovice florianne eshuis, , lloyd hotel & cultural embassy renate schepen, lloyd hotel & cultural embassy