Arch@ Tadao Ando’s New York Debut - Morimoto

Courtesy of Starr Restaurant Organization

Tadao Ando’s design for Morimoto includes a white fiberglass-canvas ceiling draped throughout the dining room.

In the works for over two years, Morimoto, designed by Osaka-based Tadao Ando and the architect’s first project in New York, opens today, January 31. 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. Both are the brainchild of Philadelphia-based restaurateur Stephen Starr.

“Ando works primarily in concrete and I knew it would be a challenge,” said Starr, who owns more than a dozen restaurants in Philadelphia that have been designed by the likes of India Mahdavi, Karim Rashid, and David Rockwell. “I knew that could be a problem. An all-concrete restaurant is not a place people would want to go. So we sat down and figured out how to make that work,” he said. Morimoto is named after its chef Masaharu Morimoto, known on television as the Iron Chef, from the eponymous series.

Located directly underneath a stretch of the High Line, the exterior of Morimoto is a dark galvanized steel façade, with a gentle rising archway, which frames an orange curtain that leads to the entrance. 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.

Since Morimoto was a conversion of a space formerly used as a loading dock, the space required a larger upgrade, architecturally. “At the beginning, it was really hard to see the big picture,” said Stephanie Goto of Manhattan-based Goto Design Group, the local architects. “If you see the space from before now, [Morimoto] looks effortless but there were many things that had to go into putting a kitchen in the basement, and creating openings.” However, “Great architecture goes into making things look effortless.” ANDREW YANG

Morimoto, 88 10th Ave, at 15th Street; (212) 989-8883

@Source:http://www.archpaper.com/news/01_31_06_tadao.html