Tadao Ando is one of the greatest Japanese architecht within last hundered years, even more. He works primarily in exposed cast-in-place concrete and is renowned for an exemplary craftsmanship which invokes a Japanese sense of materiality, junction and spatial narrative through the pared aesthetics of international modernism. His buildings are often characterized by complex three-dimensional circulation paths. These paths interweave between interior and exterior spaces formed both within large-scale geometric shapes and in the spaces between them.

Located in the building that contains Chelsea Market, between 15th and 16th Streets, Morimoto is located on the Tenth Avenue side of the market, and is on the same block as Buddakan, an Asian fusion restaurant that will open on February 22nd.

Budgeted at $12 million, the interior of Morimoto features Ando’s trademark use of concrete, but with softer touches. Inside, he has draped the interior space in swaths of white fiberglass-reinforced canvas, which flows across every inch of the ceiling. Upon entry, dining areas and sushi bar surround a central staircase that leads diners to the bar downstairs. In the floor-opening of the staircase, a dramatic installation of 17,400 water-filled glass bottles are each hung horizontally from the ceiling down to the below-grade level. Each glass bottle is fitted with an LED light that renders the simple installation into a multi-media show.

This glass wall is 2 stories high +/- 25′-0″. It made of glass bottles fitted with LED lights.

via baobee@flickr
reference: bookofjoe, philadelphiaweekly