I had forgotten how much I adore Morimoto’s ($12 million) décor. The massive glass walls (created by stacking more than 17,000 empty glass bottles) always impress me.
Glass walls that begin upstairs in Morimoto appear to continue on the basement level. Bathroom stalls are equipped with mirrors tricked out to show infinite reflections of suspended flowers. An undulating canvas ceiling in the dining room is meant to evoke the rakings in a Japanese Zen sandbox. Even Morimoto’s designer Tadao Ando — a vaunted Japanese architect — is a big deal.
Morimoto also signifies restaurant design’s current willingness to play with light and technology. The space’s most famous aspect is arguably a room-dividing wall of 15,000 clear plastic Ty Nant water bottles, backlit in shades of pale blue and green by hundreds of LED lights. (via)
