Transforming Space Through Interaction. Beanroom by Waterfrom Design

.../...

The street-side display window features irregular, unpredictable color blocks, forming a textured surface that extends as an artistic gesture of consumer engagement. Rather than being meticulously designed, this artwork evolves through individual consumer interactions, leading to fleeting, changing, and uncertain outcomes. These visual presentations can influence consumer choices, creating a cyclical process where the space is no longer a static entity, but instead changes with the passage of time. Consumer actions drive this transformational energy. When individuals stand before the installation, they are prompted to contemplate the causal relationship between consumer behavior and data. Does personal choice affect data, or does data influence personal choice? This dynamic interaction between individual consumption and big data transforms the store into a tangible, interactive installation.

The balance of light creates a behavior-driven open space
The site of this project is set back four meters from the street, with a towering six-meter-high banyan tree in front that partially conceals the storefront facade. Therefore, attracting consumers to the store becomes a primary goal. We've been contemplating whether “opening up space” equates to “openness”. Beyond physically expanding the space to manipulate light and create environments, we're exploring how consumer behavior can influence possibilities within this space, promoting ongoing “behavioral sustainability.” Instead, we’ll invite all consumers and passersby to participate in the space, thereby naturally fostering a sense of “behavioral openness.”

The display window's design reflects consumer preferences for product flavors analyzed through big data. This data, initially concealed by the operator, is now openly presented in physical form to the public. This act also symbolizes “Openness”, as mentioned earlier. When space is constructed through human behavior, it becomes a method that closely aligns with the essence, devoid of decorative objects and achieving spatial definition through actions alone.

The sustainability of product display
Unlike the traditional client-designer relationship based on conventional needs and design solutions, the collaboration at beanroom resembles more of a brainstorming partnership. Even before the specifics of the product were defined, the designer's concept of packaging as the  focal point and display shelves as supporting roles has shaped all designs around the product itself. These constraints have encouraged the business owner to gain a better understanding of the dimensions and conditions of their merchandise.

In a space focused on purity, when dealing with practical retail display walls, we aim for control over their lines to be delicate and subtle, almost imperceptible, which embodies the “harmony” we seek. The use of standardized hinges on the market, neatly arranged in rows and serving as display shelves, eliminates the need for custom fabrication. These hinge display shelves become installations in their own right, allowing the wall to transform with the flipping motion based on usage demands, resembling a composed artwork in the process. Moreover, these standardized hinges can be repurposed due to their modular nature, ensuring sustainability across all product display shelf resources in the space. This approach also encourages a holistic consideration of sustainability in design.

Tracing back to the essence, the space only responds without answering
The space serves as a solid foundation to convey the story of beanroom, akin to how coffee beans return to their environment and design returns to its core origins. While much discussion has centered around how roasted coffee beans should be presented to consumers, in terms of sustainability, the relationship between raw coffee beans and environmental climate change is even more crucial. After all, raw coffee beans are the true source of flavor.

Therefore, in presenting the outer facade of the kitchen island, we incorporate textures inspired by the wrinkles and folds of burlap sacks used in transporting raw coffee beans, thus weaving hidden narratives into the design. The weave patterns of each burlap sack vary with the origin and estate of the coffee beans, using touch to trace back the beans' condition in their environment and how this influences flavor. These subtle clues naturally raise awareness of the concept of “tracing back” embedded in the bean-tasting process, which accumulates into a foundation element. Could sustainability also take shape in such a gentle, budding form, enabling people to feel its value rather than merely presenting a superficial answer through environmentally friendly material collage in space?

As people alter the surface state through sustained consumption, it evolves into a three-dimensional and organic entity. Whether it’s the openness of circulation, the sensory resonance with roasted coffee flavors and environmental sounds, or the more abstract interpretations of technology, aesthetics, or sustainability issues, both the space and the beanroom itself respond without providing definitive answers. There is no perfect moment, only a desire to experience a broader and enduring flow.