The Future of Society and Architecture

After the 2020 Tokyo Olympics

――Architecture is a profession with very strong ties to society. So you inevitably have to consider the places you’re developing in, as well as the people living there, right?

“Well, if you didn’t things would certainly take a turn for the worse. For instance, let’s say a client asks me to create a clothing store for them. In the past they might have given specific details, like “We’ll carry these brands, and this many items, so we’ll need this many racks,” and so on and so forth. But nowadays, we have a lot more customers coming in and saying, “Okay, I want to make a brand like this. What do I do next?” You’re essentially starting from ground zero.

By asking the designer from the very beginning of the project, where the shape of the brand, the color, even the smells are all unknowns, they can create a robust idea inside their own heads. Maybe it looks like this, maybe the colors are like this, maybe it smells like this, et cetera. Projects like that, where the designer and the customer blaze their own path side by side are becoming more commonplace now. The scenario isn’t just limited to apparel, either; you can approach, say, building a hotel in the exact same way. I feel that these sorts of situations, where you start with the problem and work together to find a solution, those are going to be more commonplace in the future.”

――While listening to the customer’s requests with so little context, do their requests tend to strike a chord with you, or do you get a flash of inspiration from their key points?

“I’ve often told people at the office to treat “contradictions” and “out of place” things with respect when you’re designing something. ‘Contradiction’ is such a negative word, isn’t it? But think about it this way: those moments when a person is truly moved, when they’re surprised; they exist because there’s some contradiction there, something that would normally be out of place. A person can’t be emotionally moved just because you tell them you’re going to move them. It happens because the unexpected just so happened to move them. But at the same time, the world still expects to be moved. There’s no such thing as a cheap, quality item, because the terms contradict one another. Wanting a cramped room to appear larger, making a dark room appear lighter—there are no shortage of examples of people yearning after a contradictory ideal. There’s just something satisfying about seeing an antithetic item among the commonalities. I’d love to see everyone else embrace an interest in the uncommon among the common, myself.”

The Future of Society and Architecture

After the 2020 Tokyo Olympics

――Architecture is a profession with very strong ties to society. So you inevitably have to consider the places you’re developing in, as well as the people living there, right?

“Well, if you didn’t things would certainly take a turn for the worse. For instance, let’s say a client asks me to create a clothing store for them. In the past they might have given specific details, like “We’ll carry these brands, and this many items, so we’ll need this many racks,” and so on and so forth. But nowadays, we have a lot more customers coming in and saying, “Okay, I want to make a brand like this. What do I do next?” You’re essentially starting from ground zero.

By asking the designer from the very beginning of the project, where the shape of the brand, the color, even the smells are all unknowns, they can create a robust idea inside their own heads. Maybe it looks like this, maybe the colors are like this, maybe it smells like this, et cetera. Projects like that, where the designer and the customer blaze their own path side by side are becoming more commonplace now. The scenario isn’t just limited to apparel, either; you can approach, say, building a hotel in the exact same way. I feel that these sorts of situations, where you start with the problem and work together to find a solution, those are going to be more commonplace in the future.”

――While listening to the customer’s requests with so little context, do their requests tend to strike a chord with you, or do you get a flash of inspiration from their key points?

“I’ve often told people at the office to treat “contradictions” and “out of place” things with respect when you’re designing something. ‘Contradiction’ is such a negative word, isn’t it? But think about it this way: those moments when a person is truly moved, when they’re surprised; they exist because there’s some contradiction there, something that would normally be out of place. A person can’t be emotionally moved just because you tell them you’re going to move them. It happens because the unexpected just so happened to move them. But at the same time, the world still expects to be moved. There’s no such thing as a cheap, quality item, because the terms contradict one another. Wanting a cramped room to appear larger, making a dark room appear lighter—there are no shortage of examples of people yearning after a contradictory ideal. There’s just something satisfying about seeing an antithetic item among the commonalities. I’d love to see everyone else embrace an interest in the uncommon among the common, myself.”