My reputation, my notoriety is built on the art of assembling and blending, and this project has been all about assembling and blending the best possible team.’ So says Richard Geoffroy, former Dom Pérignon chef de cave (W*211), now creator of a progressive new sake brand, IWA. The team to which he refers consists of sake master Ryuichiro Masuda, designer Marc Newson, who created the distinctive bottle and glassware, and architect Kengo Kuma, who has designed this Wallpaper* Award-winning sake brewery.
Kuma was Geoffroy’s first choice. They first met in around 2005 when working on another, unrealised, project, so this was a chance to set the record straight. ‘Kengo has been resetting the fundamentals of Japanese architecture,’ explains Geoffroy over a glass or two of IWA 5. ‘He has an undiluted and pure vision; he has put Japanese architecture back on the map. His architecture, like our sake, is rooted in Japan, but it has an international reach.’
This story is from the February 2022 edition of Wallpaper.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Sign In
This story is from the February 2022 edition of Wallpaper.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Sign In
IN THE ZONE
The San Francisco live-work space of Indian studio Soft-Geometry provides the perfect place to work, rest and play
RISING STAR
The sky's the limit for Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam's booming metropolis, where stellar street food, historic alleyways and honking motorbikes now mix with shiny new skyscrapers, minimalist showrooms and upscale patisseries
GOOD MIXER
A site-specific artwork at Hauser Wirth Somerset serves up a cocktail of salvaged materials
UP AND AWAY
New London hotel The Emory presents the perfect showcase of RSHP's signature functionalist style and hospitality group Maybourne's elevated luxury
CABIN CLASS
An elegant escape on a remote Ontario island offers up a contemporary reinterpretation of the local vernacular
RECOVER VERSIONS
British-Indian collector Rajan Bijlani's design collection is inspired by a mission to conserve the Chandigarh legacy
DOTTED LINES
Library Street Collective's new cultural hub in Detroit, designed by OMA New York, is a signature rebuild that makes the most of the site's existing structures
POETRY IN MOTION
An immersive London exhibition takes visitors on an enchanted journey inside the watchmaking world of Van Cleef & Arpels
Talking point
Nice pen.' Two words, but in Steven Zaillian's recent remake of Patricia Highsmith's The Talented Mr Ripley, weighty with symbolism.
Modern love
We take a tour of Caracas' treasure trove of midcentury and brutalist gems