Tokyo is at the top of every traveller’s bucket list. And for a handful of good reasons: izakayas, colourful cosplay, 24-hour karaoke and 1,500-year-old Buddhist temples. But there’s one more reason on this list that many travellers miss: Japan’s thriving alternative arts scene. Four train stops west of Shinjuku’s neon lights and seven-storey department stores is a suburban Tokyo neighbourhood on the fringes—both literally and figuratively—that’s home to Tokyo’s coolest art hotel.
Walking through the pedestrian-friendly streets of Koenji, it’s easy to walk past BnA. Here’s the address: 2 Chome-4-７ Koenjikita, Suginami, Tokyo 166-0002, Japan.
Say konichiwa to Koenji, the birthplace of Japanese punk. It’s where you’ll find underground live music, above-ground espresso bars, secondhand record shops and Tokyo’s best vintage clothing shopping. It’s also where you’ll find BnA (Bed and Art) Project, a hub for both burgeoning Japanese artists and travelling art-lovers. It’s a cafe, bar, event space and two-room hotel. At its core, it’s a community spot where local creatives and global explorers can mix, mingle and collaborate.
TThe café/bar—cleverly dubbed FRONTDESK—acts as a check-in point for guests as well as a hub for local creatives to “check in” with one another. There’s also the BACKROOM, the downstairs gallery space where both local and international creatives are able to exhibit work. Upstairs or downstairs, every evening at BnA looks different from the one before: one night there might be a sticker party, and the next there might be a DJ playing ambient techno well into the morning. Whatever the occasion, you can expect to feel like the least cool person in the room.
After you’ve danced till the sunrise, it’s time to head upstairs to one of the two guest rooms, each of which was conceptualized and designed by a local artist. With support from architects, textile designers and carpenters, everything from lighting to bedding is dictated by the artist’s vision. The project gives local artists a global audience, and helps fund their work: every time a room is booked, the artist receives a percentage of the booking fee. (Every piece of art in the building, from the front desk to your bathroom, is available for purchase, further supporting the local arts community.)
The hope is that, within the next two years, BnA will expand to 30-40 rooms across Koenji, forming a cluster of rooms to make up the “hotel.” Essentially, the streets of Tokyo’s most eclectic neighbourhood will be this hotel’s “hallways.” You might get lost a few times, but you’ll leave Koenji feeling cooler than you did when you arrived.
Here’s a look inside BnA Hotel’s two artist-created guest rooms:
The post The Coolest Hotel in Tokyo Only Has Two Rooms appeared first on FASHION Magazine.
from FASHION Magazine https://ift.tt/2IT9szu
No comments:
Post a Comment