studio visit: designboom tours TORAFU architects' tokyo office

TORAFU architects is a japanese architecture firm based in tokyo that was founded in 2004 by koichi suzuno and shinya kamuro. by employing a working approach based on architectural thinking, TORAFU develops a diverse range of projects, from architecture and interior design, to exhibition space, products, spatial installations, and even filmmaking.

designboom is in tokyo and visited the studio of TORAFU architects where koichi suzuno and shinya kamuro gave us a guided tour of the firm’s workplace. get an exclusive inside look at the studio below, and read our recent interview with the duo here.

image © designboom (also main image)

TORAFU’s studio is filled with reminders of the firm’s previous work, as well as clues to future projects. among the products on display is the ‘AA stool’, a modular and flexible wooden design, and the ‘airvase’, a paper container that can be stretched into a vase, plate, or bowl. there are also references to the firm’s previous exhibitions, such as ‘inside out’, which was presented at TOTO gallery in tokyo in 2016.

image © designboom

the office is also populated with scale models of various architecture projects the firm is working on. while larger models sit at the center of the space, smaller concept models and prototypes are found elsewhere as well as material samples and other vibrant sources of inspiration. the wide range of books on view — comprising publications on shiro kuramata, alvar aalto, and many others — also sheds light on the firm’s diverse sources of influence.

image © designboom

‘we think that ‘making a fundamental and core question’ is the most important part of our design process,’ the architects told designboom in a recent interview. ‘like making questions and giving answers to them, we go through the process of design. in that process, in any project, understanding the site is the most important. depending on the site and project, it may be paraphrased as a ‘condition’, which includes the characteristics of the land and its surrounding environment or the character, needs, and issues of clients.’ read the interview in full here, and see more images from the firm’s studio below.

image © designboom

image © designboom

image © designboom

image © designboom

read more about the ‘AA stool’ on designboom here
image © designboom

image © designboom

read more about the ‘airvase’ on designboom here
image © designboom

image © designboom

image © designboom

image © designboom

shinya kamuro and koichi suzuno of TORAFU architects | image © designboom
read our in-depth interview with the two architects here

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