Starbucks Designed by Kengo Kuma

February 21, 2012 by Jack Smylie , Posted in Art, Tagged Kengo Kuma, Starbucks

In a striking move away from traditional Starbucks design, architect Kengo Kuma has completed work on the Starbucks Coffee Shop in Fukuoka Prefacture, Southern Japan.

The Starbucks shares a locality with a holy shrine – the Dazaifu Tenmagu – and Kuma ensures the store design acknowledges this, with a nod towards traditional carpentry.  A forest of intersecting wooden blocks branch inside and out, suggesting that the store is nestled in trees, and giving off an ambience which lends itself to its surroundings.