toiro/h Beauty Salon / Takashi Ago
Text description provided by the architects. A new store of the beauty salon “toiro/h” with the concept of diverse individuality and brilliance. The location is Izumo City, Shimane Prefecture, which is known for having one of Japan’s leading shrines, Izumo Taisha. From the mountains behind, you can see the scenery of clouds rising in layers, which is said to be one of the origins of the name of the place.
Synchronizing this natural phenomenon with architecture, shadows overlap, and I tried to bring it closer to a soft state swaying in the wind. In the precincts of Izumo Taisha, which is said to be a matchmaking shrine, a huge shimenawa(sacred rice-straw ropes) is dedicated. Inspired by the fact that the act of “tying” in this region has a special meaning, A 12mm white rope twisted with thin resin fibers was used for a total length of 1300m.
The ropes are tied to the ground at irregular intervals and bent at different angles, like folding a folding screen. The knots were filled with local crushed stone to make them appear to rise above the ground. The same materials were used for both the exterior and interior, and they were made without distinction. The ambiguity was amplified by mixing and adding imaginary reflections in the mirror. In the bleached interior, the different “colors” of the visitors emerge.
