TODAY’S SPECIAL Futakotamagawa Store / Schemata Architects + Jo Nagasaka

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Text description provided by the architects.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."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.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.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.