"Located directly on the sandy beach of Atami, , the project reinterprets the familiar typology of the souvenir shop by partially embedding it in the ground. The installation operates as a functioning retail space while simultaneously serving as a spatial study of tourism's relationship to land and memory. Its tilted form is half-buried in the sand, recalling the act of concealing and revealing objects, a gesture drawn from childhood play at the beach."
"Inside, the shop sells real souvenirs, but its orientation and placement make the surrounding landscape part of the visitor experience. The ocean is framed through a single large opening, turning the view itself into a component of the retail environment. Constructed under temporary-building regulations and assembled directly on-site, the project merges pragmatic and conceptual objectives. By situating a working shop within the shifting terrain of the beach, designer Naoshi Kondo questions conventional boundaries between architecture and land use, tourism and place-making, commerce and installation art."
Buried Souvenir Shop sits half-embedded in the sand on Atami beach and functions as an operational retail space while serving as a spatial study of tourism's ties to land and memory. The structure's tilted, partially buried form evokes childhood acts of hiding and uncovering, transforming a commercial typology into an architectural investigation of perception and site. Interior orientation frames the ocean through a single large opening, making the landscape part of the visitor experience. Built under temporary-building regulations and assembled on-site, the work blends pragmatic construction with conceptual aims, interrogating boundaries between architecture, land use, tourism, and installation art.
Read at designboom | architecture & design magazine
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