TODAY’S SPECIAL is a simple, not-too-fancy store evoking a sense of everyday life but offers the excitement of a once-in-a-lifetime encounter. It gives one a sense of anticipation before even going to the store, like, “Maybe they have what I have been looking for if I go there.” And when one goes there, it makes them feel, “Maybe this is what I really wanted.”

We placed fixtures of various textures, heights, and sizes to create a sense of circulation while bringing out “noise” elements generally hidden behind the scenes to the sales floor to generate a sense of movement and bustle, akin to the vibrancy of a marché. And, as with other Today’s Special stores, we attempted to dismantle the flimsy infill and reduced it to the skeleton to highlight the non-decorative nature and the raw materiality.

The Futakotamagawa store was already in the skeleton state, and a red rust-proof painted steel frame was inserted there for earthquake reinforcement. We created a space featuring the red color of the rust-proof paint because of its beautiful effect. Despite its good location in front of the station, the building’s exterior louvers and bulky greenery obscured its visibility.

In addition, the earthquake-resistant steel frame created a long and narrow corridor-like space along the windows, further preventing the activities inside from permeating to the outside. We named the corridor-like space “the world’s longest and narrowest greenery store” to give it prominence and attract more attention from pedestrians. At the same time, we added a coffee stand, the first of its kind in Today’s Special stores, to further enhance people’s flow on the second floor.

Architects: Jo Nagasaka, ：

Schemata Architects

Project Team: Makoto Kohno, Yang Xuan

Photographs: ：

Takumi Ota