PROJECT

DESCRIPTION

Hokkaido was an undeveloped area until the early Meiji period when the pioneers - Kaitakushi (Hokkaido Development Office) was established in Sapporo. This establishment invited foreign advisors to gather the wisdom of the world which led to the island to become rapidly civilized. During this time, an American chemical engineer employed by the pioneers discovered wild hops during a geological survey of Hokkaido and this discovery developed into the current beer industry as we know today.
"Hotel Sosei Sapporo M Gallery" planned on the site of the current Sapporo Factory, is also the site of the first full-scale beer brewery in Japan, the “Kaitakushi Beer Brewery”. The hotel aims to be a new base that connects Sapporo's past with its future, and to become an entity that leads to the further development of the region.
The main theme of the project is "frontier spirit (pioneers’ spirit)," followed with two main characters of the story - the pioneers, the central figure in the development of Sapporo, and "Braumeister”, a key figure in the beer brewing business within the “Sapporo Brewery”. With these men as the protagonist of the story, the passion and exuberance of those days and the “artistic chaos of the mixture of the Japanese and Western influences, the past and future” which was influenced by the modernization will be subliminally portrayed in each area.
Upon entering the entrance, an art piece influenced by one of the primary ingredients of beer - hops, graciously symbolizes the beginning of the story as it greets the guests.