Image Credit: ArchDaily

I've been meaning to write something about this for some time, but rather unfortunately, time isn't exactly on my side - but I digress.

It's really interesting how Kengo Kuma and Associates managed to bring such a local flavour to an otherwise very international (and by extension culturally-deprived) brand - the woodwork very much resembles a deconstructed Japanese temple, and in doing so, they have still managed to preserve the very defining essence of the Starbucks brand - warm cozy interiors, shelves of delicious coffee and who can forget, the green mermaid that is their logo. That being said, it would have been particularly interesting if they had employed traditional Japanese building techniques as well, rather than the mere superficial references to Japanese design.