unbirthday Shop / FATHOM
Text description provided by the architects. One day out of 365 is someone’s birthday. If that one day is a wedge that marks the anniversary of a person’s birthday, the remaining 364 days are a period of ordinary, ordinary life during which a person grows up. People cherish these days. The name of unbirthday, a children’s clothing boutique in Naka-ku, Hiroshima City, may have such a meaning.
We hope that children will spend their childhood freely without being tied down by anything, and that the space will be designed in a way that eliminates or hides the existence of vertical “supports” and “obstacles. The space is composed by emphasizing the straight lines and curves of beautiful horizontal surfaces created by eliminating or concealing the presence of vertical “supports” and “obstructions,” and by gently connecting them, we wanted the entire space to express the splendor of the continuation of calm, everyday days, not anniversaries.
The entire space is arranged to eliminate the presence of vertical pillars as much as possible, with horizontal straight lines created by the top panel, curves of natural deflection created by gravity, and organic free-curved wooden panels and copper plate handles, which were created in the image of children’s free imagination, in the hope that they will grow freely and spontaneously.
The existing façade has been scraped down to its bare post-and-beam frame and fitted with transparent glass, which is then newly plastered to create a highly transparent façade with no sense of presence.
The difference between a child and an adult is the ability to grow. In this free and open space made of horizontal straight lines and curves, breaking away from pillars and walls for support and shielding, we hope that children will feel joy in their daily growth, freely and casually choose and enjoy their clothes, and add change and color to their ordinary but wonderful daily lives.
