Ritzwell - New flagship store in Tokyo

New flagship store in Tokyo

TO MARK THE 30TH ANNIVERSARY OF ITS FOUNDATION, ON 20TH JANUARY 2022 RITZWELL INAUGURATED OMOTESANDO SHOP & ATELIER.

The new flagship store in Tokyo is located in Nonoaoyama in the Aoyama urban forest, one of the city's largest green areas built about a century ago to create a green lung of clean air and a place to preserve local biodiversity.
Ritzwell's choice of this special location is consistent with the company's philosophy, which has always been attentive to its relationship with nature, a heritage to be preserved for future generations who will in turn become its guardians. Well integrated in this vast green area is the famous shopping street that hosts the shops of the world's most famous fashion and furniture brands, as well as museums, art galleries, restaurants, offices, luxury residences and leisure areas, designed by the most prestigious international architects.

The opening of this new flagship store springs from the need to create points of contact between people and to establish a dialogue with visitors at a particular moment in time like the one we are experiencing. A space in which you can encounter Ritzwell's craftsmen at work to perceive the brand's values and to design new furnishing possibilities together. At the Omotesando Shop & Atelier you can witness first-hand that behind every piece by Ritzwell lies a philosophy that is first transformed into an accurate project, and then, with expert manual skill, into a piece of furniture. Every item designed by the brand, in fact, preserves the value of the hands that created it and fulfils a function that belongs not only to the body or the eyes, but also to the soul, which recognises its harmony and profound qualities. Not only does it furnish the home, it 'inhabits' it like another member of the family and is able to preserve its beauty over time: because materials and finishes are chosen for their ability to gain greater harmony season after season, acquiring the famous "patina of time" (furubi in Japanese).

These qualities have characterised the company's production since its foundation in 1992 in Fukoka (Kyushu Island). Ritzwell's anniversary celebrates a history of passion, research, and success. Since its first participation at the Salone del Mobile in Milan in 2008, the company - which has received several prestigious awards over the years - has been able to conquer international markets without ever straying fromits values, which seek to reach a synthesis between the fundamentals of Japanese philosophy and an essential formal language responding to contemporary taste. In 2019 the company built the Itoshima Seaside Factory, a new production site in Nijoyoshii, Itoshima City - near Fukuoka, just a few steps from the sea and immersed in an area distinguished by its lush vegetation where labour draws its harmony from the constant contact with nature. And the new Omotesando Shop & Atelier now offers these same values in the megalopolis of Tokyo thanks to its close bond with the splendid Aoyama urban forest.

The photographs are by Yuki Yamaguchi.