One Day, a Project : Hotel Ninja Black by EASTERN Design Office

Hotel Ninja Black EASTERN Design Office photo de Jeffrey Friedl
Photography by Jeffrey Friedl

Operation Ninja !

In the middle of the invasion trip of zone 51, we are heading not in the middle of the desert but to Japan, a few streets away from the Imperial Palace of Kyoto where the EASTERN Design Office agency (their site is here) have let loose by building a ninja hotel of the most beautiful effect.
When you say it like that, it can make you smile, but you have to admit that the result looks good.

If the shape of the building is a parallelepiped from which nothing (or almost nothing) exceeds, the treatment that is made combines finesse and good taste (but a ninja taste, you have to like it).  V-shaped metal blades are inserted into a thin layer of concrete, smooth as a baby’s skin. Icing on the cake, the lighting accentuates this mystical and dark atmosphere. Behind the slats, silhouettes can be seen, inhabiting the four passageways leading to the hotel’s rooms. For yes, it is indeed a hotel and one would almost forget it.

When you arrive at the reception desk, you can still play the visitor by melting the service door into the layout of these golden plaques. I can well imagine the receptionist playing “you see me a little, you see me more” with his customers. An important detail: where the famous customers are standing, an “otoshiana” has been dug, a fake trap (don’t kid yourself) where visitors can admire these fifty wooden spikes. Special mention should be made of the teapot collection that sits on the wall of the reception area. 

Folklore, you say ?
Totally. But also totally assumed. 
The finish seems to be close to perfection. The lines are beautiful, taut. The atmosphere of this world of shadows, a fantasy from Shinobi films and legends, is transcribed with humour.  I only regret that the play of lights and staging have not been extended to the rooms, which seem a little bland and classic (despite the superb sliding panels acting as windows).

All in all, a very nice project which, under the guise of not taking itself seriously (would the Ninja cups make our building permit instructors jump up and down ?), assumes its universe and revives the charm of poisonings and assassinations of all kinds. Sleeping one night in this hotel, would it be taking the risk of never waking up ?

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