Sfera Archive

The Sfera Building, designed by Swedish group Claesson Koivis to Rune in 2003, is an oasis of modernity on a street loaded with antique shops and traditional teahouses. It’s cloaked in titanium, with holes punched out to depict cherry tree leaves. Inside, there’s a four-storey ‘culture centre’, incorporating a gallery, café and Sfera Bar Satonaka. Shoppers will find plenty to keep themselves amused, including the Archive, selling CDs and design books in English and Japanese, and the Shop, stocked with modern Japanese interior goods.