“Kissaten Vienna,” a solo exhibition byEurope-based digital artist, architect, and filmmaker, Rebecca Merlic, was heldin CONTRAST Gallery in Tokyo.

This immersive,interactive project digitally documents and reconstructs the deeply humanculture of the “kissaten” —a traditional Japanese-style coffeehouse—rooted inboth Japanese and Viennese social life.

More than justkissaten, these spaces are places for quiet reflection, community, and dailyrituals. They hold the layered stories of those who built, worked in, andvisited them. Yet many kissaten have disappeared due to urban redevelopment andgenerational change.

Rather than simplyrecording these places, the project revives them as “memory spaces” in digitalform—a new kind of archive that passes on their presence and connections to thefuture.

Merlic visited kissatenacross Japan and Vienna, engaging with owners and regulars while 3D-scanningarchitecture, furnishings, and atmosphere. She also captured owners’ voices andbodies as 3D avatars, reconstructing each kissaten’s unique mood and memory.Additionally, she created three sculptures combining actual cups and furnitureused in kissaten with rare porcelain from the MAK Museum of Applied Arts inVienna.

This work was alsopresented in alternate formats at the Austrian Pavilion, Expo 2025 Osaka,Kansai, and at Knowledge Capital, Grand Front Osaka.