The Best Interior Designers and Architects in Tokyo – Part 2

The Best Interior Designers and Architects in Tokyo – Part 2 ⇒ Japan has always been the country to look out for innovation. It is amazing in how a city (Tokyo), where 10 million people live can be so clean, organized and developed as it is. That happens thanks to smart architecture and interior design. Tokyo, over the past few years, has been a beacon for design and architecture a bit all over the world. Bearing this in mind, Room Decor Ideas Decided to do a bit top best interior designers and architects in Tokyo in a two-act play. Here’s the 2nd part.

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Wilson Associates

Known for creating current, iconic, must-experience spaces, Wilson Associates has been innovating hospitality design for luxury and boutique brands for nearly 50 years. Today, Wilson Associates offers a range of design services and speciality studios to meet clients’ needs in the ever-evolving hospitality industry.

Wilson Associates was founded in 1971 by design legend Trisha Wilson. Her early career was spent designing restaurants around Dallas, Texas. It was her meeting with famed developer Trammell Crow, however, that introduced her to the larger world of hospitality design. One of the most famous projects is the InterContinental Changsha. Set along the Xiangjiang River in the posh North Star Delta, this hospitality pioneer became the epicentre of Changsha’s culinary and nightlife scene.

Tadao Ando

Tadao Ando is a self-taught architect whose approach to architecture and landscape was categorized by architectural historian Francesco Dal Co as “critical regionalism”. He was raised in Japan and this country really shaped his style as an architect and designer through religion and other culture aspects. Ando’s architectural style is said to create a “haiku” effect, emphasizing nothingness and empty space to represent the beauty of simplicity.

He favors designing complex spatial circulation while maintaining the appearance of simplicity. A self-taught architect, he keeps his Japanese culture and language in mind while he travels around Europe for research. As an architect, he believes that architecture can change society, that “to change the dwelling is to change the city and to reform society”. “Reform society” could be a promotion of a place or a change of the identity of that place. According to Werner Blaser, “Good buildings by Tadao Ando create memorable identity and therefore publicity, which in turn attracts the public and promotes market penetration”.

Kanji Ueki – Casappo

Interior Designer. Representative director of Casappo & Associates. Born in Tokyo in 1945. After graduating from Keio University in Tokyo, he went to Italy. Worked at RINASCENTE department design section in Milan. Since 1971, he worked for Aldo Jacober architect studio in Milan. In 1975, established design office, Casappo & Associates in Tokyo.

His remakably simple yet striking design style transcends the Asian minimalist vibe most clients search for. From all the accolades the designer has won over the years, we highlight the 2003 Industrial Design Excellence Award for his work on an Apple Store.

Hashimoto Yukio

Hashimoto Yukio has a very diverse project portfolio, ranging from private restaurants, through offices, retail and commercial spaces, hospitality, restaurants and cafes, to clinics and banquets. Hashimoto Yukio’s philosophy, focusing on designing ambience instead the material, allows him to create timeless and harmonious yet quite minimalistic interiors, where the finest details are brought to our attention by a subtle play of light.

Hashimoto has won many prizes, including the Na-shop Lighting Contest Award (Excellence Prize), the JCD Award (Excellence Prize), and the IIDA Award for Excellence. He is currently a Lecturer at Showa Women’s University and Aichi University of the Arts. He is also the author of LED to magewappa: shinkasuru dentō dezain (Rikuyo-Sha Publishing).

Koichi Futatsumata

Born in Kagoshima, Japan. After graduating from Department of Engineering and Architecture at Kyushu Industrial University, Futatsumata set up design unit “CASE-REAL” and started his professional career. He has exhibited his work at various exhibitions domestically and internationally. He provides design solutions in the areas of space, architecture and furniture. In 2013, Futatsumata set up “KOICHI FUTATSUMATA STUDIO” where he developed his product design practice further.

Representative architectural works include: “Restaurant on the sea (Teshima, Kagawa), house in Tsurumaki (Tokyo), Tsumons (Fukuoka), White Dormitory for Il Vento (Kagawa), Joyce TLG (Hong Kong), Suzukake Honten (Fukuoka).

Yuta Takashi

Simple and minimal. Clean modern design. Their goal is sustainable design, staying socially conscious and aiming for cultural growth. The studio solidifies the identities of brands and companies by crafting polished, modern and valuable visual identities.

Yuta Takashi is an Art director and designer based in Japan. He’s working on branding, graphic design, packaging design, editorial design, web design and so on. The features of his work are minimal designs which grasp the essence of materials and remove unnecessary elements.

Tokujin Yoshioka

Born in 1967, he worked under Shiro Kuramata and Issey Miyake, and established his own studio, TOKUJIN YOSHIOKA INC. in 2000. Active in the fields of design, architecture and contemporary art, Tokujin Yoshioka is highly acclaimed globally with works themed in the nature, which also reflect the Japanese idea of beauty. By giving figure to various human senses, using immaterialistic elements such as light, creates expressions that are unique and surpassing the concept of shape.

He has designed for Issey Miyake and other global companies such as Cartier, Swarovski, Louis Vuitton, Hermès, Toyota, and Lexus, and has been announcing new works at Salone del Mobile Milano (world’s largest international furniture exhibition) in collaboration with Italian furniture brands, including Kartell, Moroso, Glas Italia and Driade. The designer has won many international awards, including Design Miami Designer of the Year, presented to a designer who has made the most significant contribution to design globally, ELLE DECO International Design Awards Designer of the Year and Milano Design Award.

nendo / Oki Sato

Oki Sato, born in 1977 in Toronto, Canada, studied architecture at Waseda University in Tokyo. He obtained his Master’s degree in 2002. In the same year, the nendo studio was born in Tokyo. Now he has taken up the international stage, with offices in Tokyo and Milan. Nendo, meaning ‘modelling clay’, expresses his desire of having certain flexibility and the ability to reinvent oneself. The designer takes his inspiration from Japanese uncluttered style to create a language of his time.

The philosophy of Oki Sato is reflected in his designs, thanks to which he transforms the interactions of people with the objects surrounding them by creating a parenthesis in their life. This desire is found in the uncluttered and characteristic shapes of his designs, to which he always adds a touch of humour and conviviality.

Shigemasa Noi

Shigemasa Noi was born in Osaka, Japan in 1944. He is engaged is the store design, the exhibition design and the display design, from 1965. He worked for Interna kagaya, Interior Design Office Nob, and Xebec and he established shigemasa noi design office in 1982. He is developing various creative works focusing on the design of store, furniture and products.