Japanese apparel and home goods retailer Muji has earned the first spot in our April FRAME Awards round, with a trade-fair pavilion designed for China International Import Expo 2023.

Conceived by Atelier Forth Force, the temporary brand space Emptiness comprised 7,524 interlocking wooden elements, inviting visitors to systematically dismantle the screen over the course of six days – and each module saw later reuse for the building of home storage pieces. ‘This project exemplifies a forward-thinking approach to exhibition design, merging interactive, sustainable and brand-centric elements,’ says Servaas Vehmeijer, partner and managing director at The Invisible Party. 

Ending with a score of 8.28 in the category Trade-Fair Stand, the project Andrea Zickhardt, managing director at Holzer Kobler Architekturen, commends that visitors were able to participate in the concept, and that Muji considered the impact of excess waste generated during trade fairs. Fellow juror Judy Dowle, associate design director at Studio XAG, concurs, calling the work one that captures ‘brand, story, creativity, function and sustainability beautifully. It resonates as a considered design approach from start to finish, with playful interactions built into the fabric of the design.’ 

Cover and above: 'A delightful project that does everything right,' says Preeti Singh, brand director at India Design ID, of Muji's Emptiness pavilion. 'Its complexity gives way to simplicity very elegantly.'

The AoQ coffee stand by Ryohei Tanaka / G Architects Studio is located on the ground floor of a two-storey wooden building at an intersection surrounded by hotels and offices, just minutes away from Kyoto's train station.

In second place is Suetomi AoQ Café Stand, a small coffee stop in Kyoto designed by Ryohei Tanaka / G Architects Studio. Submitted for Material (7.65), the project has a statement, modular copper façade patinated with soy sauce and chemicals, matching the corporate colour of parent confectionery shop Suetomi while meeting local regulations. Casa Mezcal, a private residence in Mexico City’s La Condesa neighbourhood (House, 7.50), came in third. Totally reinterpreted by Barde vanVoltt, the former mezcal tasting facility interior provides improved light flow with an innovative intervention, and is clad in earthy tones and tactile, artisanal materials; existing architectural features, meanwhile, were preserved.

Pursuing interiors ‘deeply rooted in Mexican culture’, Dutch studio Barde vanVoltt worked with regional designers, suppliers, brands and artisans to Casa Mezcal.

Adjacent to a preschool, the Brillamont Playspace combines entertainment, learning and physical activity.

The Charles Aznavour Conservatoire of Music, Drama and Dance is a four-level school with spaces ranging from drama classrooms and recording studios to dance rooms and a black-box auditorium.

Brillamont Playspace, a children’s learning-and-play environment in San Pedro Garza García, Mexico is our third honourable mention (7.54, Learning Space). Encouraging discovery through bold shapes, bright colours and surrealistic structures, the JDE Design Driven Consultancy playspace is part of Brillamont’s preschool area. Next up – in a tie with the playspace – Katata Yoshihito Design’s Tojiro Knife Gallery in Tokyo focuses on Japanese craftsmanship and culture, providing a unique sales experience utilizing lattice patterns and industrial materials for merchandising knives (7.54, Single-Brand Store). Wrapping up our April honourable mentions is the Charles Aznavour Conservatoire of Music, Drama and Dance in Montigny-le-Brettoneux, France, a project by Dominique Coulon & Associés (7.52, Learning Space). The institution strikes a conversation between architecture, light and colour to offer a dynamic learning interior.