Samurai / Kashiwa Sato — Spaces of Tomorrow for Today

Kashiwa Sato began his creative career with a degree from Tama Art University and founded his studio SAMURAI in 2000. With his team, he has since been exploring the requirements for rooms and public places, combining essentials with an unmistakable aesthetic and thus creating surroundings that are both pioneering and comfortable. His design of the flagship store Kura Sushi in Harajuku, Tokyo demonstrates the added value that his degree in graphic design brings to architectural concepts.

SAMURAI / Kashiwa Sato in Interview with Red Dot

Red Dot: Has our perception of spaces changed over the past decades?

SAMURAI / Kashiwa Sato: Very significantly. I assume, for example, that people seek to find a variety of uses for a given space, rather than have the space fulfil a singular purpose. What’s more, I believe that there's been a large shift in people’s perception of space since the COVID-19 pandemic.

You often combine traditional elements with modernity in your work. Is that important to take people on a kind of experiential journey?

Yes, it’s very important. Creating something that connects individual and collective memories of the past with something futuristic makes it possible to create spaces that have not been seen before.

To what extent do architecture and graphic design inspire each other?

It is always my desire to create new designs that unify architecture and graphic design into an overarching concept. By doing so, information and images that are normally dissociated from one another can be combined to form a strong iconic symbol with an impactful presence.