Contract Magazine - December 2017 - 28

PROFILE
PHOTOGRAPHY: ANDREW BORDWIN (TOP); FANNY ALLE (PORTRAIT); COURTESY STELLAR PHOTOGRAPHY:
WORKS (CHAIR)

Designer
You
Should
Know
Jun Aizaki
of CRÈME

A native of Japan, Jun Aizaki moved to New York
in the early 1990s to earn his bachelor of architecture
degree from Pratt Institute. He began his career
at Rockwell Group, designing a number of restaurants
over five years. Since 2004, Aizaki has led his
own firm, CRÈME / Jun Aizaki Architecture & Design,
based in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. With a team
of 15 people, Aizaki has recently designed interiors
for the Maven Hotel (page 30) in Denver and
the public spaces of the Kimpton Hotel Eventi
in New York, including its restaurants Lupulo and
L'Amico and its lounges The Vine and the Luggage
Bar. He has also crafted furniture, including the
Exchange Collection-a dining room table, a lounge
chair, two bar chairs, and a dining chair (pictured,
bottom left)-produced by Stellar Works.
Why the name CRÈME?
I started CRÈME / Jun Aizaki Architecture & Design
as a firm through which I could bring together great
designers to collaborate together. It is a gathering
of the crème de la crème-the best of the best.
I was also drawn to the word crème because it is not
a name one would associate with architecture.
Why did you decide to start the practice after your
experience with Rockwell Group?
Rockwell was an amazing place to learn the ins
and outs of restaurant design. When I decided to open
my own practice, I wanted to take my Rockwell
experience and expand upon it by applying it to other
design realms, such as hospitality, retail, residential,
and product design.
What is unique about your design approach?
And what differentiates your work?
At CRÈME, we have the same problem-solving
approach for each project-be it a chair, restaurant,
building, logo, or city block. We also have a rich pool
of talent with a diversity of experience and ideas,
28

and that always enhances the depth and richness
of our varied projects.
Your latest Denver project incorporates urban
design with interior design. How does the design
of the urban realm relate to your experience
with interiors?
The Maven Hotel at Dairy Block is located in Denver's
Lower Downtown (LoDo) neighborhood renowned
for its historic brick buildings. Our work there honored
that past and tried to reflect it in a new, updated way.
It was also a chance for CRÈME to really use all
of its specialties as an interdisciplinary design studio.
In one project, we did everything from interior design
to custom product design to branding. CRÈME
was responsible for the hotel's lobby and other public
spaces, the two feature restaurants Poka Lola Social
Club and Kachina Southwestern Grill (pictured, above),
as well as the urban design of The Maker Alley,
which is Denver's first activated alley. Our designs
intentionally blur the lines between the different
spaces, and we tried to find unexpected ways
to connect them all.
What is important in design today?
Design has to tell a story, whether it is a new story
created especially for a space or a story that reflects
the space's true history. These stories help infuse
a place with a purpose and that, in turn, can help
to create a destination for people to create their
own stories and histories in.
What is next for your firm?
CRÈME is working on exciting projects such
as a full-scale hotel in Philadelphia, restaurants
in the Middle East, a multiuse complex in Japan,
as well as some fun restaurant and retail concepts
in New York. And we are continuing to develop
products, with more furniture to be made available
from Stellar Works in 2018.

contractdesign.com

DECEMBER 2017
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Contract Magazine - December 2017

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