hitoshi abe is among the most important architects of the current japanese generation ....................................................................................................................................


hitoshi abe

was born in sendai, miyagi, japan 1962.
he studied architecture at the tohoku university in sendai.
in 1989 after obtaining his master’s degree at the southern
california institute of architecture, in los angeles, usa,
he worked in the viennese architecture practise
coop himmelb(l)au in their studio in los angeles until 1992.
when, in 1992, he obtained his PhD in architecture at the
tohoku university, the same year he set up the
atelier hitoshi abe in sendai.
abe is among the most important architects of the current
japanese generation. he is known for his work that is
spatially complex and structurally innovative.
among his best-known public works are the miyagi stadium
(2000) and the reihoku community hall, for which he
received the 2003 architectural institute of japan award.
he heads the architectural design laboratory at tohoku
university and is involved in establishing an international
network of architectural training, offering workshops and
exchange programmes with foreign universities.

http://www.a-slash.jp

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designboom interviewed hitoshi abe on october 11th, 2006.
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what is the best moment of the day?
afternoon.
between 2pm and 4pm.

what kind of music do you listen to at the moment?
black eyed peas

do you listen to the radio?
yes.

what books do you have on your bedside table?
I prefer to read novels on chinese history.

do you read architecture and design magazines?
yes, occasionally.

where do you get news from? Newspapers?
usually from TV and internet.

I assume you notice how women dress.
do you have any preferences?
I do not have any specific preferences.
I like clothing that fits. when women feel well in something
that they are wearing.

what kind of clothes do you avoid wearing?
I do not wear horizontal strip patterns.

do you have any pets/ animals at home ?
no.

when you were a child, what did you want to be?
did you always want to be an architect?
since I was a child, I always wanted to become either
an architect or a thomas alva edison.

who would you like to design something for?
for anybody, anywhere.

do you discuss your work with other architects
and designers?
yes.

describe your style, like a good friend of yours
would describe it.
hard and loose.

the surreal quality is present in most of your
buildings, and especially evident in the miyagi
stadium in sendai.
could you summerize in a few words the
design concept?
we wanted to express the openness of the universe.
what we tried here was loosening the stadium-building-type,
which has remained essentially unchanged since the romans.
we thought we could loosen this rigidity by superimposing
the opposite kind of type.
we simply reversed the stadium, and it became a hill.
what are the visitors seeing, a hill or a stadium?
a landscape or an architecture?
we also did’nt want to maintain the circle shape of all
stadium plans, usually regarded as strictly necessary for
good viewing. it is boring and it creates a strong sense
of enclosure. in our project the circle became a swirl.
also, we kept the roof size minimum, just covered the seats,
which are of blue colour, fading gradually from dark blue
to white to reflect the sky above.

in your exhibition ‘body’ you showed ‘slices’
of walls and architectonic details without providing
any information on the buildings to which they belong
to ...
when the object is removed from its context the viewer is
forced into an unmediated and direct communication
with its sculptural form.
people are trying to capture architecture through a filter
of conceptions such as a structure or a programme,
following an existing meaning, but it doesn't allow the human
body to interpret the significance of the space that is presented.
the body is the only interface of communication between
humans and nature. architecture, when stripped from context,
is capable of interfacing with the human body and of adding
a meaning to the ‘space’.

what project has given you the most satisfaction?
the satisfaction is different in each project.
so it is impossible for me to pick one specific project.
my refusal to fall back on a template or any style constantly
makes me seeking new solutions and new modes of
expression for each new projects I undertake.

can you describe an evolution in your work from
your first projects to the present day?
I think it is getting more simple, ...
more aggressive, ...
and more easy.

is there any designer and/or architect from the past,
you appreciate a lot?
there are so many designers and architects to mention.

and from today’s scene?
those currently working in this field?
there are so many designers and architects to mention.

any advice for the young ?
I am still too young to advise anybody.

what are you afraid of regarding the future?
I am afraid that people are loosing the capacity
to practice tolerance towards other people.

hitoshi abe,
image courtesy atelier hitoshi abe.




KCH whopper in saitama, 2006.
the building accommodates a pediatric clinic on ground floor, and the client
family's private space on second and third floor.
a terrace is enclosed along the horizontal axis -
the exterior is captured inside, protected from the bustle of the surroundings.
the floating third-floor volume has the same proportion as the ground floor
and comes with various holes that introduce sunlight to from a variety of angles.




house kado, in ebisu, tokyo, 2005
image of built house and architecture models




‘body’ exhibition at the ma gallery, tokyo, 2005




restaurant ‘aoba tei’, sendai, 2005



‘aoba tei’ (which means ‘leafy place’) features walls and ceilings decorated
with images of leaves and branches, perforated through steel sheets.




9 tobohouse (tall), chigasaki, kanagawa prefecture, 2005.
the prototype for this project is a house that the japanese master architect makoto
masuzawa built for himself in 1952, during the period of material scarcity in japan
that immediately followed the second world war. it was intended as a
‘minimum dwelling’ to be built by anyone, anywhere.



interior of the 9 tobohouse.
this new twenty-first century version is aimed at enhancing possibilities
with regard to the diversity and fluidity of lifestyles in contemporary society.
no new specifications were added; the room divisions were just taken from the
original plan, but their height extended to 3,056 mm and the volume of space
correspondingly increased, in order that the compactness of the original prototype
was preserved intact.
http://9tubohouse.com/lineup/abe/ha_newdesign.html




reihoku community hall, 2002
in reihoku, amakusa-gun, kumamoto prefecture, japan
by atelier hitoshi abe and yasuaki onoda.




miyagi stadium, sendai, 2000



miyagi stadium, sendai, 2000




K-house, sendai, 2003
the concrete wall defines the boundary between the public parking lot and a protected
private courtyard.



interior of K-house.
the first floor is a L-shaped single space with living room, dining room, kitchen
and a japanese style room. it opens up towards the courtyard and becomes a single
continuous space.




Mt-house, sendai, 1998









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