Cheese tart bakery

Yusuke Seki designed the interiors of a bakery in the heart of Kyoto, using traditional Shitaji-Mado frames and lego, taking the ‘local’ to the ‘global’.

Japanese designer Yusuke Seki plays with Lego and local traditions for a special cheese tart bakery in a shopping district in Kyoto. Tracing its origins to the famed dairy farming tradition of Hokkaido, the confectionary company Bake wanted to push ‘local’ values to a global level.

The layers of Japanese history remain most wholly intact in Kyoto, where its culture has always attracted many: in recent years, at times, the number of guests on its streets swells to nearly double the resident population. Due this influx, the appealing tradition has modulated itself, incorporating patterns of behavior that are more ‘international’.

Deforming and re-conceptualizing the ‘local’ to ‘global’ inspired the selection of building materials. Cheese tarts, freshly baked in the open kitchen, are soon lined up and displayed on a counter constructed of Lego, chosen for its appeal which is universal, attracting nearly every generation.

At the same time, the back walls are made of “Shitaji-Mado”, a lattice framework technique traditionally used in the construction of Japanese teahouses. The exact specifications of the grid are strictly governed by local artisans, that may vary from city to city. Left partially exposed, these walls allow customers to interact with tradition: the store is thereby given a firm sense of place, reverberating with a reverence for the region.