Interview

Naohisa Hosoo (HOSOO architecture) Part 1

The newly unveiled new furniture pieces, the "Lounge Series" and "Dining Series," are collections with rich expressions that combine Nishijin-ori textiles, quartz stone, and brass in an exquisite balance.

The design was created by architect Naohisa Hosoo, representative of HOSOO architecture, who also designed the HOSOO flagship store, the HOSOO FLAGSHIP STORE, which was completed in 2019.

The HOSOO FLAGSHIP STORE is also a building filled with the finest craft techniques, such as plastering, blacksmithing, stone veneer, plasterwork, and foil application, and is brimming with a variety of textures.

To coincide with the launch of the new furniture collection, we bring you an interview with Naohisa Hosoo in two parts. In this first part, we talk mainly about the HOSOO FLAGSHIP STORE, as well as the philosophy behind the term "craft architecture" and the connection between Nishijin textiles and architecture.

The power of crafts

The HOSOO FLAGSHIP STORE is the headquarters and flagship store of a Nishijin weaving and wholesale business that has been in business since the Genroku period. Just as wearing a beautiful kimono lifts your spirits, crafts have the power to change people's moods and improve their condition.

I think that the fact that our moods change through the things we wear and the way we dress is something that everyone unconsciously feels every day. Wearing a good watch when going to a business meeting can help you to feel more confident, and wearing makeup when meeting people can help you to act in a more uplifting mood. These things can make people feel more confident, more energetic, and more enriched. To put it simply, I think that things can change people.

I call architecture that consciously incorporates the things that all people unconsciously feel into its planning and design "craft architecture." That is my own philosophy of architecture. I chose "craft" because crafts have the power to stimulate and inspire people by incorporating the delicate quality achieved by handwork. I wanted to infuse architecture with the power of crafts. I proceeded with the plan, placing importance on creating a space where people can feel the influence of objects on them.

Inspiration from Nishijin-ori

I like looking at old Japanese architecture and often go to see them, and in those buildings, even if there are many rafters lined up, each individual piece has its own quirks and distortions as wood. Carpenters in the past worked to shape the building piece by piece while dealing with those quirks. In modern terms, architectural components are considered "parts" of the whole, but in old architecture, they were not standardized, uniform parts, but materials with their own individual personalities. I think the "stuffiness" that is unique to modern architecture comes from forgetting the rich individuality of the materials.

Nishijin-ori, which HOSOO has been doing for generations, is based on silk thread and has produced incomparably beautiful textiles by weaving various materials such as foil into it. To me, the way different materials harmonize together to create a beautiful textile seems like a portrait of an ideal society. My architectural method of weaving various materials together to create a balance is also inspired by the context of Nishijin-ori.

By incorporating the "craftsmanship" that modern architecture has lost, we can incorporate the diversity of things in one building and create a harmonious and comfortable place. To achieve this, at the HOSOO FLAGSHIP STORE, we tried to combine traditional techniques such as plastering, blacksmithing, foiling, stonework, and plastering. Similar buildings are being mass-produced all over the world, but I want to propose a different option.

Architecture that "beautifies with age"

Two years have passed since the HOSOO FLAGSHIP STORE was built, and moss has started to grow on the rammed earth on the perimeter, gradually changing the appearance of the building. In modern architecture, emphasis is usually placed on the development and use of materials that do not show signs of aging. However, I deliberately use materials that make the aging visible, such as the rammed earth and plaster on the facade.

By doing so, I wanted to express a different value system from the idea that time has not passed and that things that never change are beautiful. The "real thing" is something that changes over time and ages beautifully. I thought that such an approach was important from the design stage, and I made efforts to create the architecture.

The exterior walls of the building are completely painted with plaster mixed with ink. Gold leaf is laid in 3mm-wide joints. Ink plaster is a material that can mark the passage of time, such as fading over time. On the other hand, gold leaf is pure gold, so it is a typical material that does not change over time. By combining ink plaster, which changes over time, with gold leaf, which does not change, we can reinterpret aging as a form of beauty. We could even call it "beautification over time." That is the intention behind the design.

But that's nothing new. I think it's the same concept as the "wabi" that Sen no Rikyu thought of in the 16th century. Fading and decay may seem negative at first glance, but they can be appreciated and reinterpreted through cultural ingenuity, elevating them to beauty. I think that's the spirit of "wabi tea." I wanted to transplant that way of thinking, reposition it in a new modern context, and embody it.

Inheriting something beautiful

The idea of ​​"beautifying with age" also originates from kimono culture. Kimono are passed down from parent to child, transcending generations, and worn with great care. At the root of this culture is the idea of ​​using truly good things for a long time while taking good care of them, and the value that things that have been passed down from generation to generation are beautiful and wonderful.

I think about this in architecture. It's not that "architecture that doesn't change over time with urethane paint is good," but rather that it's a positive thing that things change over time and require repapering of shoji screens and repainting of plaster. It's because of the maintenance that people develop an attachment to them and they can be passed down from generation to generation. So when I say "craft architecture," I don't just mean to say that "various craft techniques are used." I use the word "craft" as something that connects a long time axis.

But even if we say that "things that are passed down from generation to generation are beautiful," if the desire to cherish them across generations doesn't naturally arise in the first place, they won't be passed down from generation to generation. That's why I want to create beautiful architecture that speaks to people's hearts.

The architecture of Andrea Palladio, an Italian architect who lived during the late Renaissance, remains intact even after 500 years. Beautiful things are what remain through the ages. This is because people want to preserve them. They have an aesthetic power that makes people want to cherish them and pass them on to the next generation, so they are cared for and left to the next generation. I believe that it is the duty of an architect to create such architecture.

Continued in "Part 2"

Naohisa Hosoo

Born in Milan in 1981, raised in Kyoto. Graduated from Rakusei High School. Graduated from the Department of Architecture, Faculty of Science and Technology, while studying under Kojin Karatani and Kenjiro Okazaki at the Kinki University International Institute of Humanities. After studying abroad at the Polytechnic University of Milan, he worked at David Chipperfield Architects. After returning to Japan from Italy, he established HOSOO architecture in Kyoto in 2015. First-class architect. Currently writing "Theory of Craft Architecture" on note.