We, as the Designer Interviews ("DI") had the distinct pleasure and opportunity to interview award-winning, most creative and innovative Kei Kitayama ("KK").
Kitayama k architects is Melbourne based practice focuses on architecture, interior design and furniture design. Their design is simple, but carefully responding to the surrounding environment. By responding to the site context as a result, each design response is unique to the specific site and client. Their simple design approach extends into the interior design. Attention to the details makes their interior space elegant, and their selection of materials provides warmth in the space. Joyful spatial experience for end users is important components of their design philosophy.
Kei Kitayama Designs
We are pleased to share with you original and innovative design work by Kei Kitayama.
Designer Interview of Kei Kitayama:
DI: Could you please tell us more about your art and design background? What made you become an artist/designer? Have you always wanted to be a designer?
KK : I grew up in Osaka, Japan, where I could visit gardens, temples and other buildings easily. Visiting those architecture and gardens in young age influenced my interests. Also having my parents working in design / building industry helped me developing my interests in architecture.
DI: Can you tell us more about your company / design studio?
KK : kitayama k architects is a young architecture and interior design practice based in Melbourne. Our design concept is simple, but we also focus to create warm and comfort space for the users. Our design also respect the natural environment, which is unique for each site and each project, to provide unique design solution.
DI: What is "design" for you?
KK : Design is a tool for me to create a space / object that help other enjoy / feel comfortable.
DI: What kinds of works do you like designing most?
KK : Residential, hospitality fit out and small public buildings
DI: What is your most favorite design, could you please tell more about it?
KK : Church of the light designed by Tadao Ando. It is very simple concrete box, but the light coming into the space throught the slot window create spiritual and inspirational space.
DI: What was the first thing you designed for a company?
KK : A residential alteration and addition project
DI: What is your favorite material / platform / technology?
KK : Timber and concrete
DI: When do you feel the most creative?
KK : When I finally find a good design solution to a challenging design task. It is more so if I have gone through many schemes before reaching that final solution.
DI: What makes a design successful?
KK : A design gets refined and become successful when communication between the designer and the users are well established.
DI: From your point of view, what are the responsibilities of a designer for society and environment?
KK : A designer is responsible to respect and understand the existing society and environment before he/ she proposes any design solution to fit into the provided site. By doing so, the existing cultural reference may be retained in the same or modified manner.
DI: Where does the design inspiration for your works come from? How do you feed your creativity? What are your sources of inspirations?
KK : The source of design inspiration differs each project. In most cases, the inspiration is from the existing site conditions and adding past experiences. Past experiences varies from my childhood in Japan to visiting some buildings.
DI: How would you describe your design style? What made you explore more this style and what are the main characteristics of your style? What's your approach to design?
KK : My design style is close to purelist or minimalism. One of my mentor taught me that a process to produce a good design is to add lots of good ideas at the beginning and then refine the design by get rid of unnecessary parts. This advice still remains as my approach to the design process.
DI: Where do you live? Do you feel the cultural heritage of your country affects your designs? What are the pros and cons during designing as a result of living in your country?
KK : I live in Australia, and my cultural background heavily affect the way I design. Having different cultural background makes me able to mix two cultural references and introduce into a design.
DI: What are 5 of your favorite design items at home?
KK : Eames chair Pop chair Vase from Japan Japanese tea cup Mac
DI: From your perspective, what would you say are some positives and negatives of being a designer?
KK : One of the positive is that we can see in real life what we have designed. Also we can develop our senses so that we can appreciate good design / products / objects.
DI: What skills are most important for a designer?
KK : not to give up
DI: Which tools do you use during design? What is inside your toolbox? Such as software, application, hardware, books, sources of inspiration etc.?
KK : In early stage of the design, the tools that I use are pen, paper, cardboard and glue. Once the design is developed, computer software such as auto-cad, rhino, photoshop and indesign are used.
DI: How long does it take to design an object from beginning to end?
KK : It varies between projects
DI: Do you have any works-in-progress being designed that you would like to talk about?
KK : A residential alteration and addition project in Australia. The extension is hidden behind the existing heritage house so that it won’t affect the existing streetscape. The extension is very simple rectangular form, but space within the rectangular concrete box will be interesting by use of void, connecting bridge and level changes. It is currently under the council planning department review and awaiting for their approval.
DI: How can people contact you?
KK : via email or phone call