Established in 1803 in Paris, this autumn, the Officine Universelle Buly has opened a new store in PARCO - Shibuya in the centre of Tokyo. 

On the second floor of PARCO Shibuya, a unique Officine just opened. This Officine is entirely designed with slanted lines evoking aesthetics of chaos. In Japan, everything that is built is bound to move, following the inevitable tectonic movements.

By replicating this beauty birthed from tremors, designer Ramdane Touhami, founder of the Officine, pays tribute to the perpetual reinvention of Japanese architecture. «I wanted to create a space with unbalanced aesthetics, radically different from classic European aesthetics, which always seeks balance and symmetry above all.» 

The construction lines of the windows are all cut in irregular diagonals and above them, the neon sign of the Officine is itself tilted. In these windows, the rhythm of the wedges follows a calculated wave like that of dominoes falling to recreate the movement of the fall. The counter sinks into the floor as though absorbed by a crack, and the line of the hanging lights tracks the imaginary movement of a ceiling that would have been broken. 

The Officine was designed in a cubic space made of stone, of «oceanic grey marble», a spectacular type of grey marble with natural inclusions of rocks and fossils that has been intentionally left raw. The furniture is made in the legendary hinoki wood, a Japanese wood of a golden colour once used for the construction of temples. The bluish glass used for the counter and the display cases evokes the futuristic laboratories of the science fiction world. 

For Ramdane Touhami, PARCO Shibuya remains the place he visited with fervour each time he visited Japan in the 90s and 2000s. In his eyes, PARCO remains a window that opens into Japanese culture that is so different from the European one. These two boutiques (the second being an in-store pop-up space) with their different styles are a tribute to this so creative PARCO for which he has great respect.

Sustainability - This shop has been designed with great concern for sustainability and eco-responsibility. The interior architecture is based on three natural materials with no negative impact on ecosystems: hinoki wood, glass and stone. Additionally, the wood and glass were sourced and collected in Japan. 

Since its creation, the policy of Officine Universelle Buly has been designed around the idea of “no plastic” in its products and Art Recherche Industrie has also sought to achieve this objective in the creation of this store. To complete that objective, Art Recherche Industrie added the idea of circular economy and a low pollution footprint: for example, the opaline ceilings lights that illuminate the Officine are vintage.