Adaptive Reuse: Japanese Beachfront Cafe is Made From Shipping Pallets

Thursday, October 24, 2013, by Spencer Peterson

Photo via Design Boom

We've seen the shipping pallet used in micro homes and imagined coverings for Paris, and now, Tokyo-based designer David Guarino has retired this most hardworking of transport platforms to a breezy, sun-soaked existence on Japan's Morito Beach. Caban, as Guarino calls it, is an entire beachfront cafe built from wooden pallets, along with a few other materials sourced from the region. Built for Japanese clothing company Tomorrowland, this open-air lounge was made in collaboration with local artisans, and also includes a book store and a James Perse shop. Who would've thought that, after a life devoted to the bottom-line efficiencies of global commerce, the humble pallet would begin to serve capitalism's stylistic needs? Or that it would make such a good wall planter?

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