Indoor rock climbing is a huge sport, in Japan as well as in the United States — but why climb fake rocks, when you can climb someone's wall hangings? The Illoiha Omotesando fitness center in Tokyo lets you climb a wall that looks like it belongs to a mad evil family whose picture frames are all empty.


The wall's designer, Nendo, explains the philosophy (via Inthralld):

To express the original brand concept of "becoming beautiful through movement", we chose the theme "rock-climbing in Omotesando" and developed a design that uses the mismatch between a rugged outdoor sport and Tokyo's fashion district to its advantage. Instead of the usual rough and outdoorsy climbing wall, we came up with the idea of using interior design elements like picture frames, mirrors, deer heads, bird cages and flower vases to create a challenging wall with hard-to-find holds and unusual finger grips. We hope that our uniquely Omotesando-style climbing wall inspires newcomers to try out the sport, and starts a new wave in fitness with style.


Here are a couple more pics, check out the rest at Inthralld:



[via Design You Trust, thanks Jenn Reese!]