step inside shirokuro, a 2D omakase restaurant in NYC that looks like a living sketchbook

Living sketchbook Shirokuro is fully hand-drawn

In NYC, there’s a 2D omakase restaurant that looks like a living sketchbook, and it’s called Shirokuro. In terms of style, it’s reminiscent of the Cafe Yeonnam-dong in South Korea, designed to make the customers feel as if they were inside a cartoon show, or Joshua Vides’ hand-drawn car graphics. Every detail inside the 2D omakase restaurant in NYC is hand-painted by the artist and art director Mirim Yoo. It took her three months to paint every detail in the space, from the bonsai trees to the lines that make the tables and chairs seem to jump off from a book.

To make the space a living artwork is part of the restaurant’s goal, hence the decision not to use any wallpaper or printed graphics. The artist even drew the floor design by hand until it mimicked the markings and bands found in wooden slabs. Traditional landscapes and bar influences in Japan appear along the walls. There are stacks of bowls below the shelf of liquor, sheathed samurai swords doubling as decorations, and ikebana, the art of flower arrangement. All of these are in black and white, drawn by hand, seemingly 3D inside Shirokuro.

all images courtesy of Shurokuro

2D omakase restaurant in NYC with ‘white-black’ interiors

Somehow, the 2D omakase restaurant in NYC can also recall A-ha’s Take on Me music video with its black-and-white lines and the illustrations. Whenever the diners walk around, the lines and imagery may look 3D, depending on where they’re viewing them from. In a report by the New York Times, the artist Mirim Yoo used the Japanese ink painting technique for Shirokuro. It is the artist’s way of bringing the traditional practice into a modern space.

In the same report, the daily says that James Lim owns the 2D omakase restaurant in NYC. He’s the one who tapped Mirim Yoo, a friend of his and the real estate agent who helped him find the location, for the hand-drawn interiors. The monochromatic style of the space is a direct reference to the restaurant’s name, which means ‘white-black.’ 10 years ago, the restaurateur stumbled upon a similar concept in Korea, a nudge for him to bring the same motif to NYC. Shirokuro is located on 2nd Avenue in NYC and serves during both lunch and dinnertime.

artist Mirim Yoo worked on the illustrations inside the space

it took the artist three months to complete the drawings

the artist used the Japanese ink painting technique for Shirokuro

to make the space a living artwork is part of the restaurant’s goal

counter view of the 2D omakase restaurant NYC

on the other walls, the drawings resemble brick designs

the floor mimics the wooden slabs, including the markings

project info:

name: Shirokuro | @shirokuronyc

artist: Mirim Yoo | @mirim_artnyc

restaurateur: James Lim

location: 2nd Avenue, New York City, NY 10003

The post step inside shirokuro, a 2D omakase restaurant in NYC that looks like a living sketchbook appeared first on designboom | architecture & design magazine.