Nothing like retiring to a nice vacation spot outside of Tokyo and asking your architect to build “a house with a bookshop and a cafe where neighbors and visitors can stop by.”
It’s called the Izu Book Cafe and it also doubles as the home of a newly retired couple. It was designed by Atelier Bow-Wow.
Selling books out of your home is far from a new idea, think of the throngs that abandoned a retail presence to move home and sell books online, but what is interesting about this project is that the space is conceived from the beginning as a place to both live and work.
There are countless booksellers scattered across the country that sell out of their home and are available by appointment only.
Even though I have the book gene as strong as anyone else I have rarely visited a bookseller in his or her home – it just never feels comfortable.
But a well-designed, healthy separation…
More at GOOD” Bringing the Neighborhood Home: A Cafe and Bookstore Inside a Japanese House