Japan Architecture Guide. 30 Buildings that reflect the conception of space in Japan

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KAZUYO SEJIMA

Kazuyo Sejima. Architect. Born 1956 in Ibaraki prefecture, Japan. Master’s in Architecture, Japan Women’s University, 1981. Worked in office of Toyo Ito before founding Kazuyo Sejima and Associates in 1987. Founded SANAA with Ryue Nishizawa in 1995. Awards won by SANAA include the Arnold Brunner Memorial Medal of the American Academy of Arts and Letters (2002), the Golden Lion at the 9th International Architecture Exhibition of the Venice Biennale (2004), a design prize from the Architectural Institute of Japan (2006), the Kunstpreis Berlin from the Berlin Academy of Arts (2007), and the Pritzker Architecture Prize (2010). Works by SANAA include the Glass Pavilion at the Toledo Museum of Art; the De Kunstlinie Theater and Cultural Center in Almere...

Oki Sato. Nendo

Oki Sato. Born in Toronto, Canada, 1977. M.A. in Architecture, Waseda University, Tokyo and established “nendo” Tokyo office, 2002. Established “nendo” Milan office, 2005. “The 100 Most Respected Japanese” (Newsweek magazine), 2006. “The Top 100 Small Japanese Companies” (Newsweek magazine), 2007.

A jury member of iF award, 2010. Lecturer for Waseda University, Tokyo; “Designer of the Year” (Wallpaper* magazine): “Designer of the Year” (ELLE DECO International Design Awards), 2012. “Guest of honor” (Toronto Interior Design Show); “Guest of honor” (Stockholm Furniture & Light Fair), 2013. “Designer of the Year” (Maison & Objet); “Interior Designers of the Year” (Iconic Awards); “CHANGE MAKER OF THE YEAR 2015” (Nikkei Online), 2015. A producer of World Design Capital Taipei; Jury Chair for the Golden Pin Design Award, 2016.

KENGO KUMA

Kengo Kuma was born in Yokohama (Kanagawa, Japan) in 1954. He studied architecture at the University of Tokyo, finishing his degree in 1979. In 1987, he opened the "Spatial Design Studio". In 1990 he founded "Kengo Kuma & Associates" and extend the study to Europe (Paris, France) in 2008. Since 1985 and until 2009, has taught as visiting professor and holder at the universities of Columbia, Keio, Illinois and Tokyo.

Main Awards:

· 2011 The Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology's Art Encouragement Prize for "Yusuhara Wooden Bridge Museum."
· 2010 Mainichi Art Award for “Nezu Museum.”
· 2009 "Decoration Officier de L'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres" (France).
· 2008 Energy Performance + Architecture Award (France). Bois Magazine International Wood Architecture Award (France).
· 2002 Spirit of Nature Wood Architecture Award (Finland).
· 2001 Togo Murano Award for “Nakagawa-machi Bato Hiroshige Museum.”
· 1997 Architectural Institute of Japan Award for “Noh Stage in the Forest”. First Place, AIA DuPONT Benedictus Award for “Water/Glass” (USA).

KAZUYO SEJIMA & RYUE NISHIZAWA. SANAA

Kazuyo Sejima (Ibaraki, Japan, 1956) and Ryue Nishizawa (Kanagawa, Japan, 1966) worked independently from each other before founding the SANAA Ltd. studio in 1995. Having studied architecture at the Japan Women’s University, Sejima went on to work for the renowned architect Toyo Ito. She set up her own studio in 1987 and in 1992 was proclaimed Young Architect of the Year in Japan. Nishizawa studied architecture at the Yokohama National University. In addition to his work with Sejima, he has had his own practice since 1997.

The studio has built several extraordinarily successful commercial and institutional buildings, civic centres, homes and museums both in Japan and elsewhere. These include the O Museum in Nagano (1999) and the N Museum in Wakayama (1997), the Day-Care Center in Yokohama (2000), the Prada Beauty Store in Tokyo and Hong Kong (2001), the Issey Miyake and Christian Dior Building in Tokyo (2003) and the 21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art in Kanazawa (2004). Sejima also designed the famous Small House in Tokyo (2000), the Toledo Museum of Art Glass Pavilion, Toledo, Ohio (2001-2006), the extension to the Institut Valencia d’Art Modern, Valencia, Spain (2002 – ), the Zollverein School, Essen, Germany (2003-2006), the New Museum of Contemporary Art, New York (2003-2007) and the Novartis Campus WSJ-157 Office Building, Basle, Switzerland (2003 – ).

In 2004 Sejima and Nishizawa were awarded the Golden Lion at the 9th Venice Architecture Biennale for their distinguished work on the Metamorph exhibition.

Kazuyo Sejima and Ryue Nishizawa have won the 2010 Pritzker Prize.

The 12th International Architecture Exhibition, was directed by Kazuyo Sejima, the first woman to direct the venice architecture biennale, since its inception in 1980.

   

Ryue Nishizawa and Kazuyo Sejima. Kazuyo Sejima

SHIGERU BAN

Shigeru Ban was born in Tokyo in 1957 and after studying architecture in Los Angeles and New York, he opened an architectural practice in Tokyo, in 1985, with offices in Paris and New York, has designed projects worldwide from private houses to large scale museums.

His cardboard tube structures have aroused enormous interest. As long ago as 1986, he discovered the benefits of this recyclable and resilient material that is also easy to process. Shigeru Ban built the Japanese pavilion for the Expo 2000 world exposition at Hanover – a structure made of cardboard tubes that measured 75 meters in length and 15 meters in height. All the materials used in the structure were recycled after the exhibition. He developed a genuine style of "emergency architecture" as a response to the population explosion and to natural disasters: the foundations of his low-cost houses are made of beer crates filled with sand, and the walls consist of foil-covered cardboard tubes. A house of this sort can be erected in less than seven hours, and is considerably more sturdy than a tent.

Shigeru Ban is currently Professor of Architecture at Keio University and is also a guest lecturer at various other universities across the globe; his works are so exceptional that he was awarded the Thomas Jefferson Foundation Medal in Architecture in 2005. "Time" magazine describes him as one of the key innovators for the 21st century in the field of architecture and design.

Shigeru Ban has designed projects such as Centre Pompidou Metz and Nine Bridges Golf Clubhouse in Korea. Current projects include new headquarters for Swatch and Omega in Switzerland.

 

RYUE NISHIZAWA

Ryue Nishizawa. Architect. Born in 1966 in Tokyo. In 1990, he graduated from Yokohama Graduate School of Architecture, Yokohama National University, and joined Kazuyo Sejima & Associates. In 1995, he founded a firm named SANAA together with Kazuyo Sejima. He established Office of Ryue Nishizawa in 1997.  In 2001, he was appointed as Assistant Professor at Yokohama Graduate School of Architecture, Yokohama National University (Y-GSA), and has been a Y-GSA Professor since 2010.

His numerous awards include the Golden Lion Award of the 9th International Architecture Exhibition at the 2004 Venice Biennale of Architecture, and the 2010 Pritzker Architecture Prize.

His main works include: International Academy of Media Arts and Sciences (IAMAS) Multimedia Studio*, Weekend House, Dior Omotesando Store*, 21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art, Kanazawa*, Moriyama House, House A, The Glass Pavilion of the Toledo Museum of Art*, Marine Station Naoshima*, Stadttheater Almer (De Kunstlinie)*, New Museum*, Towada Art Center, ROLEX Learning Center*, Teshima Art Museum. * SANAA design collaborated with Kazuyo Sejima.

REI NAITO

Rei Naito. Born in Hiroshima, 1961. Degree in visual communication design from Musashino Art University, 1985. Major exhibitions and projects include Une place sur la Terre (1997, Japanese Pavillion, The 47th Venice Biennale), Being Called (1997, Galerie im Karmeliterkloster, Frankfurt am Main), Being Given (2001, Kinza Naoshima Art House Project, Benesse Art Site Naoshima), Une place sur la terre/Tokyo 2002 (2002, Rice Gallery by G2, Tokyo), Une place sur la terre/New York 2003 (2003, D'Amelio Terras, New York), matrix (2007, Nizayama Forest Art Museum, Toyama), and Tout animal est dans le monde comme de l'eau à l'intérieur de l'eau (2009, the Museum of Modern Art, Kamakura, Kanagawa).

Suzuko Yamada Architects

The architecture studio Suzuko Yamada Architects was founded by the architect Suzuko Yamada in 2013 in Tokyo Japan.

Suzuko Yamada was born in Tokyo in 1984. She graduated from the Faculty of Environment and Information Studies at Keio University in 2007, and completed her studies at the Department of Architecture in the Graduate School of Fine Arts at Tokyo University of Arts. 

After working at Sou Fujimoto Architects, she started her own design activities. Currently, representative of Sako Yamada Architects. Part-time lecturer at ICS College of Arts, Department of Architecture, Faculty of Science and Technology, Meiji University.

She was the winner of the highest award at the conference of ARCHITECTURAL DESIGN ASSOSIATION OF NIPPON 2020. At the competition "Arts&Life: Where will we live tomorrow?” she won 1st prize in 2011.

Junya Ishigami

Junya Ishigami, born in Tokyo, Japan (1974). Education:
1994 - 1998 Musashi Institute of Technology. 
1998 - 2000 Tokyo National University of Fine Arts and Music.

Professional experience:
 2000 - 2004 Kazuyo Sejima + Associates. 
In 2004 he set up his own firm, "Junya Ishigami + Associates". Junya Ishigami questions common understanding of architecture. This allows him to create things beyond trends, established principles and definitions, develop new structures, new spaces and organize the environment differently. He hopes his projects will be able to change the lifestyle of modern architecture radically and fill it with new values.

Main projects:
 Table. Tokyo, Japan, 2005
T. project. (First prize in residential architecture project sponsored by the Tokyo Electric Power Company). Tokyo, Japan, 2005 
Balloon. Tokyo, Japan, 2007
Kanagawa Institute of Technology KAIT kobo. Kanagawa, Japan, 2008
Yohji Yamamoto New York Gansevoort street store, NY, USA, 2008.

Main awards:
 “low chair and round table” were acquired by the Pompidou Centre. Milan, Italy, 2004, 
SD Prize for “small garden of row house”. Japan, 2005, 
Kirin Prize for “Table” . Tokyo , Japan, 2005, 
First prize in residential architecture project for “t project”. Tokyo, Japan, 2005, 
“Table” shown at the Basel Art Fair by Gallery Koyanagi in 2006 and acquired by the Israel Museum. Basel , Swiss, 2006.

SOU FUJIMOTO

Sou Fujimoto was born in Hokkaido, Japan on August 4, 1971. In 1994 he graduated in architecture at the Faculty of Engineering, University of Tokyo. He established his own architecture studio, the agency Sou Fujimoto Architects, in Tokyo in 2000, and since 2007 a ​​professor at Kyoto University.

He was first noticed in 2005 when he won the prestigious AR – international Architectural Review Awards in the Young architect’s category, a prize that he garnered for three consecutive years, and the Top Prize in 2006.

In 2008, he was invited to jury these very AR Awards. The same year he won the JIA (Japan Institute of Architects) prize and the highest recognition from the World Architecture Festival, in the Private House section. In 2009, the magazine Wallpaper* accorded him their Design Award.
 Sou Fujimoto published “Primitive Future” in 2008, the year’s best-selling architectural text. His architectural design, consistently searching for new forms and spaces between nature and artifice.

Sou Fujimoto became the youngest architect to design the annual summer pavilion for London’s Serpentine Gallery in 2013, and has won several awards, notably a Golden Lion for the Japan Pavilion at the 2012 Venice Architecture Biennale and The Wall Street Journal Architecture Innovator Award in 2014.

Photographer: David Vintiner

HIROSHI NAKAMURA

Hiroshi Nakamura. Born in Tokyo, 1974. Completed the Master Course, Department of Architecture, Graduated from the University of Meiji with M.Architecture Degree, 1999. Chief engineer in Kengo Kuma&Associates, 1999-2002. Established First Class Architect Office / Hiroshi Nakamura & NAP Co., Ltd. / Currently this office representative director, 2002.

Awards. Grand Prize, JCD Design Award 2006 / Grand Prize, GOOD DESIGN AWARD 2008 / ShinKenchiku Award 2010 / Design Vanguard 2010 ARCHITECTURAL RECORD TOP 10 architect in the world (USA).

Works. Dancing trees Singing birds, House C, Roku museum.

Publishing. Microscopic Designing Methodology (INAX Publishing) / Love in Architecture(ASCII) / Reading Skills of Architects(TOTO).

ARATA ISOZAKI

Arata Isozaki, (born in 1931 in Oita Prefecture - d. Dec 28th, 2022 inOkinawa, Japan), Isozaki is a world-renowned and one of the Japan’s leading architects. He established Arata Isozaki & Associates in 1963. His representative architectural works include Oita Prefectural Library (present Art Plaza), The Museum of Modern Art, Gunma, Art Tower Mito, Los Angeles Museum of Contemporary Art, Nara Centennial Hall, Akiyoshidai International Art Village, Shanghai Himalaya Center, Qatar National Convention Center.

He is the recipient of the Annual Prize, Architectural Institute of Japan, for the Ōita Prefectural Library and The Museum of Modern Art, Gunma (1967 and 1975 respectively, Japan), L’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres (1997 Officier, France), RIBA Gold Medal for architecture (1986 United Kingdom), Leone d’Oro, Venice Architectural Biennale, as commissioner of Japanese Pavilion (1996 Italy), Gran Cruz de la Orden del Mérito Civil (1997 Spain), Ordine al Merito della Repubblica Italiana (2007 Italy), and The Lorenzo il Magnifico Lifetime Achievement Award, Florence Biennale (2017). He was an honorary member of the Royal Academy of Arts (1994) and the American Academy of Arts and Letters (1998), and a member of the Japan Arts Academy (2017). He was appointed to the first Pritzker Prize Jury in 1979, and continued on as a member for five additional years.

Solo exhibitions featuring the work of Isozaki have included Arata Isozaki: Architecture 1960-1990 at the Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles (California, USA) and Tokyo Station Gallery (Tokyo, Japan); Arata Isozaki: Works in Architecture at the Brooklyn Museum (New York, USA), Galleria D’ Arte Moderna, Comune di Bologna (Bologna, Italy), The Netherlands Architecture Institute (Rotterdam, The Netherlands), The National British Architecture Institute (London, United Kingdom), Miro Museum (Barcelona, Spain) and Moni Lazariston (Thessaloniki, Greece); Arata Isozaki – Electric Labyrinth at Castello di Rivoli, Museo d’Arte Contemporanea (Torino, Italy) and Serralves Museum of Contemporary Art (Porto, Portugal); and Arata Isozaki UNBUILT at the Central Academy of Fine Arts (Beijing, China), Shanghai Urban Planning Exhibition Centre (Shanghai, China) and Guangdong Museum of Art (Guangzhou, China).

Isozaki has served as a visiting professor at several U.S. universities including: Columbia University, New York (New York, USA); Harvard University (Cambridge, MA, USA) and Yale University (New Haven, Connecticut, USA). He is based in Okinawa with offices operating in Japan, China, Italy and Spain.

Katsutoshi Sasaki, Shogo Sakurai. Katsutoshi Sasaki + Associates

Katsutoshi Sasaki + Associates. Architecture firm established by Katsutoshi Sasaki in Toyota (Aichi), Japan, in 2008. Associates architects.- Rina Tanaka (2015) Namika Fujino (2020).

Katsutoshi Sasaki, born in Toyota City, Aichi Prefecture, in 1976. Graduated from the Department of Architecture, Kinki University (Hiroshima, 1999. European travel, he learn architecture through a three-month experience, 1999. Hhe worked at a design office (Tokyo), learning architectural theory and practice, 2000. Worked at a design and construction company (Tochigi), learning planning, design, and construction, 2004.

Since 2015 was part-time lecturer at Aichi Institute of Technology (-2018). 2015- Part-time Lecturer, Faculty of Engineering, Kinki University. Late weekly day trips to Hiroshima. 2018 Concept house completed. Construction of a viewable house next to the office. 2019- Part-time lecturer at Meijo University.

2020 Completed Master's program at Department of Social Engineering, Nagoya Institute of Technology (master/engineering). 2020- Part-time lecturer, Nagoya University.

Hamada Architects Aki

Aki Hamada was born in1984 in Toyama. In 2010 finished the career of architecture (BA Architecture and Urban Design in Tokyo Metropolitan University). Later, in 2012,  he studied a MA Architecture in the University of Tokyo. In 2012 established studio_01 with Alex Knezo and in 2014 founded Aki Hamada Architects. Two years later joined teamLab Architects as partner.
Awards:
Sendai Design League 2010 — Finalist
5th Daiwa House Competition — Award of Excellence
15th Hokuriku Area House Design Competition — North Japan News Award
Shinkenchiku October 2010 Cover Article “naminoma” (with 5 others)
Tokyo Kenchiku Collection 2012 Award of manuel tardits
SD Review 2012 accepted for “dolphin house” (as studio_01)
Tokyo designers week 2012 Able space competition Grand Prix “barcode room” (as studio_01)
MOT bloomberg pavilion competition Award of Excellence “mildendo”
SD Review 2014 honorable mention “Substrate Factory Ayase”

TAKUYA HOSOKAI

TAKUYAHOSOKAI is an architectural atelier in Tokyo, Japan, established by Takuya Hosokai in the fields of art, architectural design, urbanism and cultural analysis in 2005. Takuya is a first class authorized architect in Japan.

He received the Master of Excellence in Architecture in 2005 from Yokohama National University in Japan, and graduated with distinction for exhibiting his thesis project at the 1st International Architectural Biennale Rotterdam as a part of the Tokyo Ring Project in 2003 from the same university. 

From 2008 to 2011 he worked at AMO / OMA Rem Koolhaas and BIG | Bjarke Ingels Group as a senior architect on numerous large scale regional planning projects. During this time he lived in several countries, in the US, South America and Europe, for his research in world life, culture, history, economy, religion and politics.

In 2011 he resided in Madrid, Spain, carrying out studies into radical structural design and innovative materials with Antón García-Abril at Ensamble Studio. For this research he received a grant from Arts and Culture Division Cultural Affairs Department Agency for Cultural Affairs Government of Japan.

Takaharu, Yui Tezuka. Tezuka Architects

Tezuka Architects. Takaharu and Yui Tezuka founded Tezuka Architects in Tokyo, 1994. In the following years, they produced an extensive body of work, including Echigo-Matsunoyama Museum of Natural Science, Roof House, and the unique Fuji Kindergarten in Tachikawa, which received The Best of All, OECD/CELE 4th Compendium of Exemplary Educational Facilities in 2011, and the 2017 Moriyama RAIC International Prize.

When designing a building, their main concern is to create spaces that are open and welcoming to nature, trying to treat it in a way that can be appreciated. People are not viewed removed but as a part of all aspects of existence. As a result, their buildings offer a design that, rather than closing, opens possibilities.

TAKAHARU TEZUKA. Born in Tokyo, 1964. M.Arch.,University of Pennsylvania, 1990. Hi works at Richard Rogers Partnership Ltd. 1990-1994.  Establish,Tezuka Architects, 1994. He is Assistant Professor, Musashi Institute of Technology, 1996-2003. Visiting Professor, Salzburg Summer Academy during 2005-06 and    Visiting Professor, University of California, Berkeley  2006. Now, Professor, Tokyo City University, 2009-...

YUI TEZUKA. Born in Kanagawa, 1969. The Bartlett School of Architecture,University College of London, 1992-1993. Establish,Tezuka Architects, 1994. Visiting Faculty,TOYO University, 1999 -. Visiting Faculty,TOKAI University, 2001-. Visiting Professor, Salzburg Summer Academy, 2006. Visiting Professor, University of California, Berkeley, 2006.

AWARDS     

1997 Ministry of International Trade and Industry,Good Design Gold Prize(Soejima Hospital).

1998 Architectural Institution of Japan,Annual Architectural Commendations (Soejima Hospital).

2002 Japan Institute of Architects Prize (Roof House) / Yoshioka Prize, Yoshioka Foundation (Roof House).

2003 Architectural Institution of Japan,Annual Architectural Commendations (Roof House) / Good Design Prize, Japan Industrial Design Organization, (Styrene foam sofa).

2004 Good Design Prize, Japan Industrial Design Organization (Hounancho "L" Condominium) / Ecobuild Award, Ecobuild Japan (Echigo-matsunoyama Museum of Natural Science) / AR Award 2004, the Architectural Review (Echigo-matsunoyama Museum of Natural Science).

2005 Architectural Institution of Japan,Annual Architectural Commendations (Matsunoyama Natural Science Museum).

2007 Ministry of Economy,Trade and Industry,Interaction Design Prize (Fuji Kindergarten) / Ministry of Economy,Trade and Industry,Kids Design Gold Prize (Fuji Kindergarten) / Association for Children's Enviroment,ACE Award Design Category (Fuji Kindergarten) / Design for Asia Grand Award(Fuji Kindergarten) / AR Award 2007 Highly Commended, the Architectural Review (Fuji Kindergarten).

2008 Architectural Institution of Japan Prize (Fuji Kindergarten).

2009 The Japan Institute of Architects Prize, the Japan Institute of Architects (Fuji Kindergarten) / The Architecture Award, Asia Pacific Property Awards 2009 (Fuji Kindergarten).

Nikken Sekkei

Nikken Sekkei. An architecture studio where they take an integrated approach to their projects as a professional service firm. Current Nikken Sekkei Ltd President and CEO is Mr. Atsushi Omatsu. Their teams across all in-house disciplines of architectural design: urban design, research, planning and consulting, work collaboratively to deliver better solutions for clients.

They proudly work under the expression "EXPERIENCE, INTEGRATED". And today, they, as Nikken Group, can claim to have completed more than 25,000 projects, in over 250 cities, across 50 countries.

Ultimately, they know their responsibilities are increasing. They gain strength from working with clients from concept to completion, striving for meaningful results for the people and communities they touch. They have grown their firm to be future ready, so their partners and society can trust in their expertise and capabilities.

HIDEMI NISHIDA

Hidemi Nishida is an environmental artist. In his work, Nishida installs architectural structures into specific fields or existing buildings to extract more the specific value on the specific places. It discovers new possibility and value on each places and leads neighbors to the place to do activities for primitive pleasure.

Koichi Suzuno - Shinya Kamuro. TORAFU ARCHITECTS Inc.

Torafu Architects Inc. Founded in 2004 by Koichi Suzuno and Shinya Kamuro, TORAFU ARCHITECTS employs a working approach based on architectural thinking. Works by the duo include a diverse range of products, from architectural design to interior design for shops, exhibition space design, product design, spatial installations and film making. Amongst some of their mains works are 'TEMPLATE IN CLASKA', 'NIKE 1LOVE', 'BOOLEAN', 'HOUSE IN KOHOKU' and 'airvase' . ‘Light Loom (Canon Milano Salone 2011)’ was awarded the Grand Prize of the Elita Design Award. Published in 2011were the 'airvase book' and 'TORAFU ARCHITECTS 2004-2011 Idea + Process' (by BIJUTSU SHUPPAN-SHA CO., LTD.) and in 2012, a picture book titled ‘TORAFU's Small City Planning' (by Heibonsha Limited).

Koichi Suzuno
1973: Born in Kanagawa Prefecture
1996: Graduated from Department of Architecture, Science University of Tokyo
1998: Completed the Master Course of Architecture, Yokohama National University
1998-2001: Worked at Coelacanth K&H
2002-2003: Worked at Kerstin Thompson Architects / Melbourne
2004.2-: Founded TORAFU ARCHITECTS with Shinya Kamuro
2005-2008: Lecturer at Tokyo University of Science
2008-: Lecturer at Showa Women's University
2010-2011: Lecturer at Kyoritsu Women's University
2010-: Lecturer at Musashino Art University
2012-: Lecturer at Tama Art University

Shinya Kamuro
1974: Born in Shimane Prefecture
1997: Graduated from Department of Architecture, School of Science & Technology,Meiji University
1999: Completed the Master Course of Architecture, Meiji University
2000-2003: Worked at Jun Aoki & Associates
2004.2-: Founded TORAFU ARCHITECTS with Koichi Suzuno
2008-: Lecturer at Showa Women's University

Takanori Ineyama

Takanori Ineyama was born in Yamanashi in 1982. In 2005 he raduated from Tokyo University of Science. He worked for Architectural design office in Yamanashi from 2006 to 2009, when he moved on to work for ON design until 2014. That year, he hstablished Takanori Ineyama Architectural Firm. From 2015 to 2018 he was a graduate assistant at Tokyo University of Science.

Yo Shimada

Yo Shimada borns in Kobe, Japan (1972), is graduated by the Kyoto City University of Arts in 1994, and graduated in the post graduate course of Kyoto City University of Arts in 1996. In 1997 he establishs Tato Architects in Kobe Japan.

Based in his home town of Kobe, Tato Architects undertakes projects throughout various locations in Japan. The projects are mainly private houses; however, in recent years the office has taken on assignments for interior and installation work as well. The ideology of the practice is to formulate positive outcomes through understanding the subtle conditions and constraints of everyday life, which exist within notions of place, culture and the ongoing history of architecture.

These ideas have been further discussed in publications such as, 7iP #04 YO SHIMADA(7inchproject, 2012)and Everyday Design Everyday : Yo Shimada (Contemporary Architect’s Concept Series 22,2016)

The name Tato (タト)is derived from the decomposition of the kanji character 外(outside),  which can be read in multiple ways. Tato Architects is interested in the process of continuous exploration, in order to achieve a kind of ambiguity in its architecture; an architecture that renews itself through the perspective of people's everyday experiences. Furthermore, the practice aims to create an architecture that quietly alters people's consciousness.

Awards
1994 4th Japan Art Scholarship(Aoyama Spiral garden,TOKYO), Special Prize.
1999 1st ELLE DECO Japan award,  Grand Prix.
2004 1st Wooden Architectural Space Design Competition, Superior Prize.
2011 1st Art project competition of kobe Biennale, Prize.
2011 Kanden house design competition 2011, Superior Prize.
2013    LIXIL design Contest Gold Prize
2013    Asia Pacific Property Award Architecture Single Residence, Highly Commended
2013    Yoshioka Prize
2016    Architectural Design Association of Nippon Awards, Grand Prize
2016    AIA Brisbane Regional Awards, House of the Year Award
2016    AIA State Award, Queensland Architecture Awards
2016    AIA National Commendation, National Architecture Awards

Kazunori Fujimoto. Kazunori Fujimoto Architects

Kazunori Fujimoto Architect & Associates. Kazunori Fujimoto is born in Yamaguchi, Japan, 1967. Graduated from Waseda University, 1991, worked at Tadao Ando Architect & Associates, and NASCA. In 1998 established Kazunori Fujimoto Architects.

Award/Selection: 2005, AIJ Selected Architectural Designs. 2006,5th Hiroshima Culture & Architecture Award. Nichijiren Architectural Award. 2007, AIJ Selected Architectural Designs, Shizuoka Culture & Architecture Award. 2008, 12th Electric Housing Architecture Award, 6th Hiroshima Culture & Architecture Award. 2012, AIJ Selected Architectural Designs, 7th Hiroshima Culture & Architecture Award
      
Last Exhibitions.- 2017, Hiroshima Architect 2017/ TOTO Hiroshima. 2018, Neo-Bingo Architect/ Fukuyama Municipal Libraly.

Koichi Futatsumata

Koichi Futatsumata is a Designer born in Kagoshima, Japan in 1975. He is based in Fukuoka and Tokyo working internationally with variety of works including architectures, furnitures, products and objects. 

The head of both studios, "CASE-REAL" and "KOICHI FUTATSUMATA STUDIO". The representative products and objects are “Kiulu Bench(Artek/2019)”, "Cutlery for valerie_objects (valerie_objects/2015)", "SHOE STOOL (Opinion Ciatti/2014)", "in the sky (E&Y/2010)," "HAMMOCK (E&Y/2009)" and others. 

Also, in 2011, his work "22 (EK Japan/2009)" was added to the permanent collection at San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. Representative architectural and interior works include: “DDD HOTEL (Tokyo, 2019)”, “AESOP SHINJUKU (Tokyo, 2019)”, “CHALET W (Hokkaido(Niseko, 2019)” and others. Received many awards.

TADAO ANDO

Tadao Ando was born in Osaka, Japan in 1941. A self-educated architect, he spent time in nearby Kyoto and Nara, studying firsthand the great monuments of traditional Japanese architecture. Between 1962 and 1969 he traveled to the United States, Europe, and Africa, learning about Western architecture, history, and techniques. His studies of both traditional Japanese and modern architecture had a profound influence on his work and resulted in a unique blend of these rich traditions.

In 1969 Ando established Tadao Ando Architect and Associates in Osaka. He is an honorary fellow in the architecture academies of six countries; he has been a visiting professor at Yale, Columbia, and Harvard Universities; and in 1997, he became professor of architecture at Tokyo University.

Ando has received numerous architecture awards, including the prestigious Pritzker Architecture Prize in 1995, the 2002 American Institute of Architects Gold Medal, and also in 2002, the Kyoto Prize for lifetime achievement in the arts and philosophy. His buildings can be seen in Japan, Europe, the United States, and India.

In fall 2001, following up on the comprehensive master plan commissioned from Cooper, Robertson & Partners in the 1990s and completed in 2001, Tadao Ando was selected to develop an architectural master plan for the Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute to expand its buildings and enhance its 140-acre campus.

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