Interviews med Ryumei Fujiki and Yukiko Sato

EDUCATION:1994, Architectural Design, Doctor of Eng., The University of Tokyo, Tokyo/JAPANEXPERIENCE:2001-Present, Professor, Kogakuin University, Tokyo/JAPAN1994-Present, Principal Architect, F.A.D.S, Kawasaki/JAPAN1984-1990, Architect, Sakakura Associates Architects and Engineers, Tokyo/JAPAN

My great teacher is Hiroshi Hara who is a famous architect in Japan.　He had a decisive influence on me.

1.Conception 2. Advanced Geometry 3. 3D modeling

The phase of the design process which is most exciting for me is the first stage.

Philosophy is important.

I would like to design something that nobody has seen yet.

My great teacher is Hiroshi Hara who is one of most famous architect in Japan.

I like a design of architecture, especially the design of experimental architecture.

I chose to become a designer by myself.

I am interested in nature, especially the system of nature. So I want to design that an architecture will close to nature.

Only need to like designing

Whether he/she has his/her own values

Whether it has original value

Because your heart will be happy.

House for myself

to design an architecture like aurora

I do not mind others' evaluation.

Hiroshi Hara who is a Japanese architect and my great teacher

I like Chanel Mobile Art Museum designed by Zaha Hadid because it has fluid form and seamless.

I think Artificial Topography. Because it is soft, fluid and seamless although Zaha's fluid form is hard.

I studied the geometry of nature.

Astrophysicist

Design is synonymous with art for me.

Yukio Sato who is my partner

Because I was lucky.

There is a few projects.

I think that it is better to let people around the world know widely.

A entirely new design

There is not ultimate goal.

Excitement

To change people's fixed concept

Yes, because I am constantly trying new challenges.

There are no satisfied projects.

1 - 3 years

I start with the idea.

Always trying new things

I think the designer should anticipate the trend.

Technology is necessary for me to realize new ideas.

I use Rhinoceros as 3D modeling software and 3D printer as equipment to make the model.

My best design partner is Yukiko Sato.

I can believe in co-design when I collaborate with her.

John Cage

By myself

Zaha Hadid

I am very proud.

It is hard for me to be famous.

I like sky-blue color, South Island, beef, spring and no-brand.

Always excited

Complete denial

Because I met my mentor, the great architect Hiroshi Hara.

Ryumei Fujiki :

Ryumei (Takaaki) Fujiki completed his MA and the Doctor of Engineering at the University of Tokyo under Hiroshi Hara and Akira Fujii.

He founded Fujiki Architectural Design Studio(F.A.D.S) in 1991. He has been teaching as a professor at the department of architecture at Kogakuin University (KOU: :ARC) ,Tokyo since 2001.

Ryumei Fujiki is studying on various research focuses at Fujiki Studio of Kogakuin University, specializing in environmental and experimental architecture.

He has a great interest in nature especially the advanced system of nature.

F.A.D.S :

Yukiko Sato joined F.A.D.S as a design partner since 2000. She graduated from Japan Woman’s University. She teaches at four universities, including Japan Women's University.　F.A.D.S has made numerous practical works in Japan. http://www.fads-design.jp

It's not about satisfying the client's needs or solving their problems, but about creating spaces never seen before.

It involves a trial and error process of challenging things without knowing whether or not I will be successful.

Instead of answering about my favorite design, let me answer as my favorite designer (architect).

Hiroshi Hara, Eero Saarinen, Zaha Hadid, MAD architects, Future System, Peter Vetsch

Promenade Tama Chuo (housing complex)

https://sakuhin.info/japan/promenade_tamatyuou/#google_vignette

Parametric Design and Digital Fabrication

a trial and error process of challenging things

a trial and error process of challenging things

Fun and joy

I want to take on a different challenge.

I don't know if I was successful or not.

Whether it's new or not.

I believe it is important to show bold and ambitious ideas and to make proposals that will change our values when it comes to the two problems we face: global environmental issues and war.

I think we are now able to achieve things that were previously impossible.

An exhibition titled The Environmental and Experimental Architecture of Fujiki Studio was held at Kogakuin University in Shinjuku, Tokyo from June 3rd to June 15th, 2024.

I don't have any plans for the next exhibition, but I would like to participate if I am invited by the A' Design Award 40×40 program. Through the 40×40 program, "Porous Manifold as a Japanese Tearoom" were exhibited during from February 12 to April 28, 2024 at the Academic Design Center in Poland as ART & DESIGN FESTIVAL 2023 "IM_MATERIAL" exhibition.

A new interpretation of nature, namely, the idea of viewing nature as a highly advanced system.

Related to the question above, I call the type of architecture I aim for "Nature-oriented Architecture."

I live in Tokyo, Japan. When I give lectures abroad, I feel proud of Japanese culture, for example, origami. However, there is no merit to living in Japan now because Japan is very conservative. It does not tolerate unfamiliar or new things.

I don't really work with companies, I work with individual clients.

Japanese companies are conservative, so they won't commission work from design firms unless they are large.

I first come up with a concept, then I make a study model to study it, and then I model it in 3D. Sometimes I make the 3D model and the study model in the opposite order. Finally, I make a mockup in full size.

There aren't five.

Egg chair designed by ArneJacobsen

https://www.fritzhansen.com/ja/categories/products/popular-series/egg

Garden Egg Chair designed by Peter Ghyczy

https://www.vam.ac.uk/articles/garden-egg-chair?srsltid=AfmBOoqo-hUuh4u2NcrU34yi6QSRN0E-_Ndpa4gO7kgBh6aaFBdK2107

My best ideas often come to me when I wake up in the morning, so I write them down right away so I don't forget them.

I think it's important to think for yourself, in other words, not to be swayed by other people's evaluation.

The good thing is that it's fun, the bad thing is that staying up all night multiple times is bad for our health.

There is nothing in particular.

There is nothing in particular because design is not a skill, it is a philosophy and a way of life.

Rhinoceros ,Grasshopper and Maya (3D software)

I can't manage time.

It takes one to three years.

How can you come up with such an idea?

I think it's important to fail.

Most of my clients are individual individuals, but I would love to work with overseas companies.

I love everything about design.

I plan to design my own house using Parametric Design method.

I am collaborating with Yukiko Sato.

I am currently designing a small wooden house.

Please contact us using the contact form on the F.A.D.S homepage (http://www.fads-design.jp/contact.html).

Ryumei Fujiki answered this survey.

The client's request for the renovation was to change the existing kitchen area, which consisted of a kitchen, breakfast corner, and pantry, into a multi-purpose family room-like space that could be used at any time, not just for breakfast.To meet this request, we removed the pantry to make the entire space a unified, spacious space, and changed the sink from a wall-mounted type to an island type, recreating the space more around the kitchen unit.

When the house was first completed, it was made of a single folded plate (slab), with a rectangular concrete box inserted between them to support the whole structure. The inside of this rectangular box was the kitchen area, and the surface of the box (the outer finished surface) was finished with exposed concrete in a cedar board formwork, so even though it was made of concrete, it retained the texture of wood.This time, in order to further implement the design concept at the time of the first completion, we decided to cover the inside of the box, i.e. the inside of the kitchen area, entirely with a wooden finish. Specifically, the walls and ceiling were finished with spruce CLT material (made in Austria), and the floors were made of birch wood with a similar texture.By unifying the interior with the same wooden materials, the family room space has been transformed into a calm, comfortable space.

As I answered in question 04, if you try to make a flat roof without a parapet, which is a roof shape that is less likely to accumulate snow due to the influence of wind, in order to cope with heavy snowfall conditions, the result is inevitably a box-shape.However, I believe that this box-shaped architecture is deeply connected to the concept of homogeneous space, which was the dominant spatial concept of the 20th century, and for many years I have been trying to find a way to overcome this somehow. This is because, to put it very simply, I believe that this concept of homogeneous space is such a big problem that it can be said to have caused global environmental problems.After much trial and error, by bending a single plate, I was able to find an architecture that had a flat roof without a parapet but was not box-shaped.

Although Fukui City is an urban area, it is a snowy area. Recently, due to the warm winters, there are many years when the amount of snowfall is relatively small, but in architectural design, 2 meters of snow must be taken into consideration. Moreover, it is heavy and wet snow. Many of the houses currently being built are built on the assumption that the human burden of "snow removal" will be required, but this is not just hard work, but also a dangerous task that can cost a life if one step is taken wrong. When designing, I want to at least create a building that does not require snow removal.With this in mind, I have tried several designs from the perspective of how to reflect snow in the design, and when designing this house, the first thing to consider was how to deal with snow. At this time, the shape of the roof is particularly important. Here, there are several research examples that show that if there is no parapet, a flat roof is less likely to accumulate snow due to the influence of the wind, and I adopted this idea in the design.This idea was successful, and despite years of snowfall, there were no structural problems, so there was no need to renovate the entire building. The only performance-wise improvement that was required was updating the facility equipment.

The area is now spacious and easy to use, and the layout centered around the island kitchen has brought the family closer together.

Before the renovation, the interior of the house was mainly exposed concrete, which lacked warmth, but by finishing the kitchen area entirely with wooden materials, the warmth has been enhanced and the quality of both the concrete and wood materials can be felt.

The skeleton-infill concept is key, and being able to freely renovate the interior without changing the structure is important in terms of sustainability.

The dimensions of the area were determined by the size of the exposed concrete box that was originally constructed with cedar board formwork.

There weren't many technical requirements for this renovation, so the decision was made based solely on aesthetic considerations.

I believe that the main reason for the success of this project was that we were able to find a good client, so to be honest, at this point I don't know if there is anything I can say in general terms about the future.