Dutch and Swiss architecture have been a source of interest to Yuko Nagayama (Tokyo, 1975), who was particularly influenced by Rem Koolhaas and Herzog & de Meuron during her studies at the Showa Women’s University in Tokyo. In 2002, when she was 27, she founded Yuko Nagayama & Associates in the same city. Success came quickly with the Louis Vuitton Daimaru boutique (2004) in Kyoto, and was reconfirmed in 2007 with the Best New Female Architect Award.

Her office is famous for its luxury retail shops, houses and urban planning, but also renewal projects with a mediation between preservation of tradition and openness to new design roads. This is seen at Kiya Ryokan (2012), a long-standing inn in Uwajima, now also equipped to host cultural events.

The Teshima Yokoo House (2013) enters into symbiosis with art, becoming a tool to rejuvenate the small port of Leura on the island of Teshima. Taking full advantage of the existing layout of three vernacular minka, ancient houses built in Japanese style, Nagayama created a museum for work by the artist Tadanori Yokoo. Thanks to the use of coloured glass to regulate light and colour, the perception of the interior and exterior changes, transforming the way the space and the artwork are experienced by visitors.

For Nagayama, architecture has the added value of being a place to experiment with visions and innovative experiences. In this direction we can position Nishiazabu House (2017) in Tokyo. It is composed of two volumes, one is open and all glass, the other closed and all concrete. This offers the home’s owners two different perspectives and worlds. The design of the Japanese pavilion at the World Expo 2020 in Dubai is currently occupying the practice. The search for connections and crossings of culture between Japan and the Middle East has led to a three-dimensionally patterned facade inspired by a combination of origami shapes and arabesque decorations, and a natural cooling system incorporating ancient Arabic and Japanese techniques.