About
The word texture originates from a word meaning “to weave.” Textiles are created using various yarns, each with a distinct color and material, woven together in concert while bringing out their unique qualities. In the same manner, by beautifully weaving together disparate material components, such as stone, tile, metal, or concrete, like “textile,” we offer architecture imbued with textures that can be worn like clothes. Because what underlies a fertile life is an architecture with rich qualities that touches people’s heartstrings through its texture.
In our 20th-century capitalist society that goes hand in hand with mass production and mass consumption, crafts have been regarded as a time-consuming old technology and pushed to a vulnerable position. Each craft technique has its own irreplaceable charms but also hard-to-handle characteristics. Instead of designing architecture created by mechanically composing standardized parts, we aim to design spatial harmony that vividly reveals the uniqueness of each craft technique and quality of the material. We believe that this is where the core of architectural design lies.
Profile

- Naohisa Hosoo
- Born in Milan in 1981 and grew up in Kyoto. He graduated from Rakusei Senior High School. At Kindai University, he studied under Kojin Karatani and Kenjiro Okazaki at the Institute of International Center for Human Sciences and graduated from the Department of Architecture, Faculty of Science and Engineering. After studying at Politecnico di Milano, he joined David Chipperfield Architects. Upon returning to Japan from Italy, he established HOSOO architecture in Kyoto in 2015. First-class Registered Architect in Japan. On note, he writes about the Theory of Crafts and Architecture.
Awards
- 2021 -iF DESIGN AWARD 2021 ARCHITECTURE AWARDS for HOSOO FLAGSHIP STORE
- 2021 -Red Dot Award 2021 Product Design awards for HOSOO FLAGSHIP STORE
- 2020 -Silver Prize of KUKAN DESIGN AWARD 2020 for HOSOO FLAGSHIP STORE
- 2020 -Encouragement Prize of The 8th Kyoto Architecture Award for HOSOO FLAGSHIP STORE
- 2018 -Encouragement Prize of The 6th Kyoto Architecture Award for HOSOO RESIDENCE
Print publication
- “The Possibility of Texture in the 21st Century” (dialogue: Koichi Kato x Naohisa Hosoo), More than Textile issue 2
- “Preserving Tradition in 2030,” Architecture and Society, August 2022 issue
- “Furniture as Utopia” (written by Naohisa Hosoo), LAB express vol. 4 for CONSTRUCTION NO. 1 ENSEMBLE
- Shinkenchiku, September 2021 issue for HOSOO FLAGSHIP STORE
- Annual of Spatial Design in Japan 2021: Displays, Signs & Commercial Spaces for HOSOO FLAGSHIP STORE
- BRUTUS, December 1, 2019, issue (Feature: Japanese Hotels) for HOSOO RESIDENCE
- Shotenkenchiku, December 2018 issue (Feature: HOTEL) for HOSOO RESIDENCE
Online publication
Office
- First-class Registered Architect Office HOSOO architecture
- Registration number: Registered by Prefectural Governor of Kyoto (01A), No. 03068
- Licensed managing architect: Naohisa Hosoo
- Date of registration: November 20, 2019
- Main Office: 752 Bishamon-cho, Kuromon-dori Motoseiganji sagaru, Kamigyo-ku, Kyoto 602-8227, Japan
- Rokuhara Studio: Agora Higashiyama #111, Yumiya-cho, Higashiyama-ku, Kyoto 605-0817, Japan
- Tel/Fax: +81-75-441-5189
- Mail: mail@hosoo-architecture.com