Fitness: Designed to Climb.(Illoiha fitness club rock-climbing wall)(Brief article)

Byline: Katie Connolly

The Omotesando district in Tokyo is better known for catwalk fashions and luxury design than rugged adventure sports. But the neighborhood's hip Illoiha fitness club somehow manages to combine the two in its new rock-climbing wall. There's not a bright-yellow fake rock in sight; instead of garish plastic footholds, Oki Sato, the talent behind Japan's award-winning design firm Nendo, has created a quirky, almost baroque, esthetic using such items as deer heads, bird cages, vases and picture frames to create hand grips and stepping stones.

Nendo is also the creative genius behind Illoiha's other gym, in Ebisu, which boasts a lava bath among its luxuries. It features graphics based on a ...