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Designed by concrete,

W Hotel Osaka

Opens its Doors

Osaka, Japan

ituated on Midosuji Boulevard, a new 27-storey landmark
high-rise, designed by Nikken Sekkei and with a Tadao Ando
Ssupervised façade, is the home of Japan’s first W Hotel. Don’t be
deceived by its simple black monolith design – inside hides a world
of extravagance! Its interior is inspired by the many facets of the city,
welcoming guests to experience Osaka, through the eyes of concrete.

The true spirit of Osaka
Every W Hotel is designed for its specific location – with foreign
designers invited to offer the fresh perspectives of an outsider. For
W’s first hotel in Japan, concrete absorbed the sites, sounds, flavours
and thrills of Osaka. From the simple beauty of the cherry blossoms
and gingko trees lining the Midosuji Boulevard to the vibrant neon
and busy streetscape of Osaka’s nightlife district Dotonburi. Concrete
found inspiration in both the simple and traditional, as well as the
modern, obsessive and extravagant, and created a design concept of
extravagant simplicity - celebrating the true spirit of the city.

The arrival
The “wow” experience begins as you enter the long arrival tunnel
from the main Midōsuji Boulevard entrance. Inspired by delicate
blossoms and the fine art of origami, more than 3000 circles were
laser cut into sturdy metal and folded randomly. The lights behind
the abstract blossom change colours with the four seasons and shift
in intensity from daytime to night – creating an otherworldly portal
into the world of W Osaka. The Osaka experience proceeds in the
arrival lobby. Here, the asanoha pattern was the inspiration behind
the ceiling, flooring and staircase. A simple yet bold ceiling uses a
scaled-up, 3D version of this traditional geometric pattern – which
is reflected in the pattern on the granite flooring, in six dark grey
shades.

The social heart - living room & bar
In a standard hotel, the first thing guests see is the check-in counter.
Instead, when exiting the lift, W Osaka guests immediately see the
bar, the social heart of the hotel. To connect and separate the spaces
that serve the W Osaka guests on this floor – like an endless shoji
screen – a continuous white, sheer curtain with sharp origami-style
pleats flows from here to there and around again.

Guests are welcome to relax (and people-watch) in the hotel’s living
room – half indoors, and half outdoors. Above the indoors lounge
floats a wild cloud of rectangular lamps, hanging vertically and
horizontally, at various heights. White zigzag “neon” lights shine
through the translucent acrylic forms, in a desaturated homage to
Osaka’s electric nightlife scenery. It’s like the colours of the neon have
dripped on top of the furniture, and are arranged from purple to pink
to orange to yellow to blue to green.

80 Issue 242 • dw