In the heart of Kreuzberg, SAKE 36 is a project conceived by Richie Hawtin, Laura Käding and Maximilian Fritzsch, with the aim of promoting the culture of Japanese craft sake in Europe and creating a place dedicated to mindful tasting.
The interior design, by the Berlin-based studio Abcarius Burns, shapes an essential and balanced space that combines Japanese aesthetics with Berlin’s urban sensibility. The design approach follows the principle of “less but better”, where every element has a precise function and contributes to a sense of calm and focus.
The space is structured around a large solid-wood central table, both the physical and symbolic heart of the experience: a place for meeting and sharing that recalls Japanese izakaya, reinterpreted with contemporary refinement. Light wood surfaces, brushed steel details and warm lighting create a suspended, intimate and meditative atmosphere.
Abcarius Burns selected natural and tactile materials — wood, stone and plaster — left mostly untreated or only lightly finished to highlight the beauty of imperfections and the relationship between material, light and time. The space is deliberately free of unnecessary decoration: design becomes a neutral frame allowing the sake, the people and the gestures of service to emerge as protagonists.
The project also reflects the cultural vocation of the venue: SAKE 36 is conceived as a sensory and social experience, where architecture promotes concentration, dialogue and discovery. The linearity of the spaces and attention to acoustics evoke an idea of “active silence,” in harmony with the contemplative approach that connects sake tasting and musical listening — a clear reference to Hawtin’s universe.
SAKE 36 is therefore not just a bar or a shop, but a cultural space of transition, where Japanese tradition meets Berlin contemporaneity through the language of architecture and design.
photo: ©Ludger Paffrath
