Given the opportunity for a solo show in central Tokyo, most young architects would put their buildings on display. But Makoto Tanijiri, who founded the Hiroshima firm Suppose Design Office, is not like most architects. Instead of featuring stand-alone works, his recent exhibition, Tokyo Office, at the Prismic Gallery, displayed an entire work space. Desks, chairs, and a computer took the place of frames and pedestals, while concept sketches casually taped to the wall, binders of working drawings, study models, and other tools of the trade were as artfully arranged as a still-life painting.
The pristine presentation bears little resemblance to Tanijiri’s actual headquarters: a 270-square-foot studio apartment where his staff of 10 hunker down amid a maze of desks, model parts, and material samples. One of Hiroshima’s growing number of successful young practitioners, Tanijiri has completed a slew of projects, including an internal medicine clinic, a wedding chapel, a variety of commercial interiors, and a whopping 44 houses—not bad for a guy who admits he goofed off in school. Instead of entering a prestigious university followed by an apprenticeship with a well-known designer, Tanijiri attended a two-year technical college, then worked for a design-build firm where he picked up construction basics and enough training to qualify for his license. After five years, the 26-year-old architect left the company to launch his own venture in 2000. He spent his first year on his own competing in mountain-bike races while designing small interiors for friends on the side.
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