{"id":327248,"date":"2025-12-04T13:39:09","date_gmt":"2025-12-04T13:39:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/327248\/"},"modified":"2025-12-04T13:39:09","modified_gmt":"2025-12-04T13:39:09","slug":"ichio-matsuzawa-creates-one-of-a-kind-bar-out-of-undulating-acrylic-glass","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/327248\/","title":{"rendered":"Ichio Matsuzawa creates “one-of-a-kind” bar out of undulating acrylic glass"},"content":{"rendered":"

Architect Ichio Matsuzawa has designed the pop-up AWT Bar for the annual Art Week Tokyo<\/a>, using transparent acrylic sheets<\/a> that were heated and turned into three-dimensional walls.<\/p>\n

The bar<\/a>, located in Tokyo’s central Aoyama<\/a> area, featured see-through walls that resembled sheets of water cascading down from the ceiling.<\/p>\n

\"BarThe interior of AWT Bar featured transparent walls<\/p>\n

Matsuzawa<\/a> chose to work with the transparent shapes because he wanted the space to have a unique feel, he told Dezeen.<\/p>\n

“The concept is to create a one-of-a-kind space in each moment through constantly changing reflections and distortions produced by transparent, warped partitions,” the architect said.<\/p>\n

\"BarThe pop-up bar was located in Aoyama, Tokyo<\/p>\n

To construct the sheer walls, he used three-millimetre-thick, highly transparent acrylic glass.<\/p>\n

“Because it has a light transmittance of 94 per cent, the material is almost completely transparent,” Matsuzawa explained.<\/p>\n

“In addition, it can be thermoformed, and even thin acrylic sheets possess sufficient structural performance to stand on their own.”<\/p>\n

\"HeatedAcrylic sheets were heat-treated to form shapes that could stand by themselves<\/p>\n

The architect heated the acrylic, turning it into three-dimensional shapes that can stand upright by themselves and through which visitors to the bar could see the whole space, in a slightly distorted version.<\/p>\n

“In this work, the acrylic is not the main character; rather, the reflected environments and the people within them take centre stage,” Matsuzawa said.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\"Concrete<\/p>\n

Kazuyo Sejima presents compact Tokyo homes that “show how cities and buildings grow together”\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n

Matsuzawa also designed the furniture inside the bar, which was made from colourful rugs that had been rolled up to form seats, creating a playful contrast to the sculptural sheer walls.<\/p>\n

“By wrapping a handmade carpet from Central Asia, it was turned into a chair,” he explained.<\/p>\n

“I found it interesting to use a tactile, material-rich fabric in contrast to the transparent acrylic. I also felt that it would create a more welcoming atmosphere, rather than an inorganic one.”<\/p>\n

\"SeatingIchio Matsuzawa also designed furniture from rugs<\/p>\n

The overall space, which Matsuzawa described as a “continuously transforming environment”, also changed over the course of the day as the light reflected the acrylic sheets from different angles.<\/p>\n

Sound installations and live performances, as well as a specially designed food and drink menu, contributed to the ever-changing feel of the space.<\/p>\n

“We received feedback that the installation gives a completely different impression between day and night,” the architect said. “Combined with the sound installation, people told us it created a very enchanting experience.”<\/p>\n

\"EveningThe installation had a different impact in the evenings<\/p>\n

Also during this year’s edition of Art Week Tokyo (AWT), architect Kazuyo Sejima showcased striking post-war buildings in the city for the Tokyo House Tour<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Designart Tokyo, meanwhile, which took place around the same time, showcased a number of exciting projects by upcoming and established Japanese designers<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The photography is courtesy of AWT.<\/p>\n

Art Week Tokyo took place across Tokyo from 5 to 9 November. See Dezeen Events Guide<\/a> for an up-to-date list of architecture and design events taking place around the world. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Architect Ichio Matsuzawa has designed the pop-up AWT Bar for the annual Art Week Tokyo, using transparent acrylic…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":327249,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[31],"tags":[183638,183637,449,458,459,64,63,127975,460,134,941,61745,62769,11804],"class_list":{"0":"post-327248","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-arts-and-design","8":"tag-acrylic-and-plexiglass","9":"tag-art-week-tokyo","10":"tag-arts","11":"tag-arts-and-design","12":"tag-artsanddesign","13":"tag-au","14":"tag-australia","15":"tag-bars","16":"tag-design","17":"tag-entertainment","18":"tag-japan","19":"tag-sectionall","20":"tag-sectioninteriors","21":"tag-tokyo"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/327248","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=327248"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/327248\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/327249"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=327248"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=327248"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=327248"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}