MO-NO-HA Shop, Cafe & Gallery in Seoul by Creative Studio Unravel.

The minimalist interior of MO-NO-HA Shop, Cafe & Gallery in Seoul by Creative Studio Unravel is wrapped in various textures, allowing materials with shifting scales and aesthetics to act the main character of the design. The rough outer skin of large concrete tiles sits alongside clean whitewashed walls and copper furnishings – the collection of objects come together to create a strikingly restrained and supremely elegant space.

“When we face an empty space, we feel unknown emotions and tension,” explain the designers. “With only emptiness and silence, the space brings out stories and sounds of lingering imagery. Not being seen and touched, the aesthetics of absence can be said to be valuable and beautiful… By leaving things as they are, we can approach the relationships of things, space, location, and situation.”

The shop unfolds with a sense of welcoming warmth the other spaces do not possess. The expansive, open-plan volume is divided into smaller sections by large extruded squares, each feeling solid and impenetrable. Warm downlights illuminate the rectilinear body of a large copper bench. Subtle nuances in its skin are cast in shadow, its radiant sculptural form becoming a significant presence in the interior. Benches made from a delicate steel and glass structure are anchored by a heavy marble slab, the contrast between materials creating a special moment that surpasses mere functionality.

The café is the embodiment of simplicity done right. Large tables seamlessly intertwine with chairs that perfectly tuck themselves neatly under its perfect square shape – the connection creates a perfectionist’s actual dream moment! Bench seating is defined by straight clean lines and flawless junctions that sit in juxtaposition with the rough, imperfect tiles that line the back wall. An intriguing tension emerges between perfection and flaw, creating a design we simply cannot look away from.

Related: Juun.J Fashion Flagship & Felt Coffee in Seoul by WGNB.

[Images courtesy of Creative Studio Unravel. Photography by Han Sung Hoon.]